Five Doctors And A Baby
by TheDoctorAndSarah
Summary: When John finally finishes the beacon, Sarah Jane has to come to grips with her relationship with the Doctor. And where does Jack fit in with all this? Sequel to "Be Careful What You Wish For" SJ, John, Harry, Jack Harkness, and ... ?   *** NOW COMPLETE ***
1. Chapter 1

**URGENT NOTE:** As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!

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><p>Well, folks, sorry it took us a little bit longer to finish this story than we'd anticipated, but I was sick for almost 3 weeks, and that put us very far behind. I'm better now, though, and we're raring to go!<p>

For those of you first joining us, this is the third in a series of interconnected stories. We promise that each will have a well-defined beginning and end, but they'll all fit into an arc that starts with "The Long Road Home," when a man shows up on Sarah Jane Smith's doorstep with no memory, continues in "Be Careful What You Wish For" when they fight the odds (and Torchwood) to try and hide the fact that Sarah is pregnant with the Doctor's baby, and ends when … well, you'll just have to find out.

As we've been saying, as far as canon, all of these stories mesh with what we've actually seen onscreen in Doctor Who itself, but **not necessarily Sarah Jane Adventures**.

(OK, everything onscreen in Doctor Who except the Brigadier's history in "Mawdryn Undead", and that's because THOSE writers were fudging dates and hoping nobody would notice.)

Also, if you've come here because we've listed "Tenth Doctor" in the second character pulldown, we should tell you now that he doesn't appear until much later in the series … or does he?

Finally, we've put a lot of work into making sure all the pieces fit together - and believe me, that's quite a job! - so we'd really appreciate your feedback. We also appreciate everyone's patience while we finished things off so we could keep our regular Wednesday/Saturday posting schedule.

Thanks so much, and we look forward to hearing from you!

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><p>Sarah Jane Tinker had come downstairs to make dinner when she suddenly heard shouting, and then cheering. She looked out of the window over her sink and started to laugh. Her husband John had been playing football in the back garden with their new neighbor Jack and their dear friend Harry Sullivan for about an hour now, and apparently several of the older neighborhood boys had joined in the game as well.<p>

The younger neighborhood children were all standing around - they were the ones shouting and cheering them on. Sarah laughed even harder when she noticed that their dog Faraday was running up and down the pitch barking at the players.

She couldn't tell who was winning, but she was sure that they were all having a wonderful time.

Of course, it didn't matter who was winning; she was just glad John was alive and well enough to play checkers, let alone football. It had only been two months since he'd been kidnapped by an unsavory unknown group. Even now, Sarah Jane wondered what it was they'd wanted from him. Information? Revenge? She couldn't imagine what anyone would want from someone so sweet. They'd tortured him to the very brink of death and then literally thrown him out of a car onto the front steps, but John had suppressed virtually all memory of the event, so they still didn't know very much about what had actually happened, or why.

She saw Harry being bested by a twelve year old and as she watched him protest to a ten year old referee, she shook her head at "her boys".

How completely life had changed for her. She had been so lost and hurt when the Doctor dumped her. She didn't think she could even survive being back on Earth after all the travels and mad adventures they had known. Now several months later here she was, happy and content, loving the sweet gentle simplicity of sharing her life with John.

She turned, went over to the cupboard and got down several paper cups and a large tin of biscuits. Placing them both on a tray along with a gallon of milk, she headed outside with them. "Here you are, ladies and gentlemen, refreshments for everyone. I can tell this is really thirsty work and you lot look like you wouldn't mind a few biscuits with your drinks. Just don't spoil your dinner."

Setting the tray on a picnic table, she opened the tin and the milk then started filling the cups and passing them around. She passed the tin around and each child politely reached in and helped his or herself, then thanked her. "Break time," she called out to the players.

John left his post as goalie and trotted over, still laughing, "Thanks, Sarah," he said, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey, do we all get to do that?" Jack asked, flashing what they had come to recognize as his trademark cheeky smile. But it was clear that while he would have accepted had it been offered, he wasn't entirely serious, and he laughed when John jokingly smacked him.

"I only kiss the men I marry, Jack, sorry," laughed Sarah as she handed the milk to Harry and turned to kiss John back.

Harry looked down at the milk in his hands and sighed. "I suppose this means I'll have to get my own milk and biscuits, poor me."

Sarah finished kissing John, then took the milk back and poured out a cup of milk for Harry. Taking two biscuits out of the tin, she proceeded to shove them into his mouth playfully. "There you are, you poor Old Boot."

"I think she just told you to stuff it, Harry," Jack laughed.

"If it means getting fed, I don't mind at all, old boy," he said as a few crumbs slipped out of his mouth.

"Thank you Missus Tinker," the children shouted in unison.

"You're all very welcome," she curtsied at them. "I'm going back in now, John. I'll sing out for you when dinner is ready," she called over her shoulder as she headed back inside.

Harry looked at his watch. "And speaking of dinner, I'm afraid it's time to call this game."

"Awwww," the older boys all moaned.

"No," Harry insisted, "I've got to leave soon, and Mister Tinker is entirely too winded for my tastes."

"Come on, Harry," John said, "I'll take a break, I'll be fine."

"No," Harry said, "I've got to go." He turned to Jack. "Make sure he lays off for the rest of the day, will you?"

Jack nodded. "Will do."

John grumbled, but didn't look entirely upset about their concern. "What's the big hurry, Harry?" he asked, toweling off his face and waving to the boys as they headed home.

"Big date tonight. I've got great hopes for this one. She's a very dishy blond and she thinks I'm brilliant."

"Ah," Jack said, "going off to play doctor, hey?" He wiggled his eyebrows as he and John retreated to two of the three chairs outside the doors of the workshop.

"A gentleman never tells, old boy," Harry said in what he at least considered to be a suave voice. "But I will say that she's quite attractive and a lot of fun to be with."

"I'm proud of you," Jack said, putting his feet up on a crate. "Is it serious?"

"Not yet, but it could be. Why don't you have a date tonight, Jack? I should think a fellow with your looks could chat up someone quite easily," Harry said.

John gave Harry a "oops, don't go there" look, but it was too late.

Jack kept smiling, but his eyes told another story. "My divorce was finalized yesterday."

Harry looked genuinely contrite. "Well I've put a foot in haven't I? I'm so sorry old man, I had no idea."

Jack dropped the smile. "I suppose it's a bit of finality," he said. "I just .. I wish I'd had a chance to say goodbye to my daughter, you know?"

John passed him a bottle of soda. "So sorry, Jack."

"Don't give up hope, Jack, these things take time, but they usually work out in the long run," Harry said, patting his shoulder.

"Oh yeah," Jack said, brightening. "Believe me, there are plenty more fish in the proverbial sea." He stood up and started ushering Harry towards his car. "You go on and have a good time. I promise I'll keep our boy settled down."

"I'm not deaf, you know," John said, "and I'm not an invalid."

"We just want to make sure that you stay that way old man," Harry said, waving goodbye and jumping into his car. He rolled the window down as he pulled out of the drive. "Have a great evening, you two."

John settled himself in his chair and put his feet up. "Sorry about Harry," he told Jack as Harry pulled out of the driveway. "He doesn't mean anything by it."

"I know, and he does seem like a nice enough guy, he's just a little..." Jack paused and thought. Finally he shrugged. "I guess he's just a little quirky." Jack flashed one of his most winning smiles and then gave John a playful punch in the arm. "But then aren't we all?"

"I suppose so," John said. He thought about his own life, from the moment he'd woken up with no memory on Sarah Jane's doorstep. It certainly hadn't been what most people would consider "normal". From the time he'd been captured by aliens and worked with Sarah to save the world, to the plot to convince him that he was a physics teacher from Burnbridge, which had culminated with his being kidnapped and tortured by a shadowy organization sure that he was... He breathed deeply, pushing back the panic that gripped him whenever he thought about it. In a few moments he felt better. Then there was the alien called the Doctor, the man who was the father of his wife's unborn child. "Definitely quirky," he said.

They sat in the early evening quiet for a little while, each absorbed in his own thoughts. Jack had moved to town just after he'd gotten out of the hospital, and they'd become fast friends.

Harry still came around, but now that John and Sarah had been married, Harry had decided it was time to move on with his life, as evidenced by his date tonight. With Sarah diving back into work to make up for the time she'd lost while he was recovering, John was just as likely to be found killing time with Jack as with Harry, and Sarah often (jokingly) lamented the trouble the three of them would get into together.

Today, though, John was unsuccessfully trying to distract himself from the news that he and Sarah were finally almost ready to reveal. "Jack," he said, "can I tell you a secret?"

Jack leaned forward and looked deeply into John's eyes, his own twinkling with obvious delight. "Only if it's a really juicy one. Whatta ya got?"

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it juicy, but you can't tell Harry, OK? There are some other people at work I need to tell first, and I don't want him to feel slighted."

"My lips are sealed, but my ears are wide open," he grinned at him.

John grinned back, like the cat who swallowed the canary. "I know you miss your daughter, and I'm sorry about that, but it looks like there's going to be another baby for you to play with soon."

"Oh yeah? Who's? I hope she's in her mid twenties and nicely put together," he wiggled his eyesbrows at John.

John shook his head. He'd long ago come to realize that Jack was just a sweet guy with a big mouth who didn't mean any harm, and joked to cover his own sadness. "I think that he or she might be a little young even for you, Jack," he said.

"Oh, the loud messy kind that can have stuff coming out of either end. I know all about those. One of the local ladies just find out that she's been blessed?" He held up his hands, "I'm innocent, I swear it's not mine, no matter what she says."

"I know it's not, Jack," John smiled, "it's mine and Sarah's."

Jack hesitated for a moment, then grinned widely. "No! You old devil you. That was fast work, how long have you two been married?"

"Almost two months, thank you," John said. "I guess we got lucky."

"Wow, it must have happened on your wedding night. You got lucky alright," he nudged him. "Beginner's luck. I'm telling all the ladies in the neighborhood not to stand too close to you, you're dangerous," he teased.

John laughed. "I'd comment," he said, "but as usual I really have no response. Besides," he continued, "blissfully, the ladies of the neighborhood seem to have moved on to you as their conquest. I can't tell you how relieved I am. I never noticed, but it drove Sarah Jane mad sometimes."

"Well, now that I'm here, she can retire that stick she's had to carry around to protect you with." He slicked back his hair with his hand. "Personally, I never even try to fight anyone off. That Mrs. Sanderson a few houses down for example, now there's a very lonely lady who likes to cook, if you know what I mean," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively once more.

John laughed. There was one more thing he wanted to know, but he wasn't sure about it, and didn't want to hurt Jack's feelings. Finally he decided to take a chance. "And I should mention that Mister Thackeray over the road seems to have taken a shine to you as well, though I doubt he'll say anything about it." He waited for Jack's reaction; they hadn't discussed this particular topic before.

"I know," Jack smiled happily. "Isn't he just adorable? We've been carefully flirting with each other for days now. I'm letting it build until he can't stand it anymore. I'm such a tease."

John had to laugh. It made him happy that Jack trusted him enough not to even flinch. After all, he trusted Jack enough to tell him about the baby. "You are that," he said.

"Since we're confiding in each other, I'm going to trust you and tell you something I don't want to get around either," Jack said, taking a swig of soda. "I love to flirt, and while I do have my little flings, I never get involved with someone who is attached to someone else. Take the little number down the street, she flirts because her husband neglects her. I flirt back because it makes her feel like she hasn't lost her appeal." Jack finished off his bottle and retrieved another one from the cooler, popping off the top and tossing the bottle opener back into the cooler's lid. "In the long run, it'll make her more confident, then her absent hubby will notice and he'll start to get more attentive. It could even save their marriage."

He leaned over conspiratorially. "And if I do get serious with someone and it becomes more than flirtatious, I never cheat on anyone I love. I don't tell people that as a rule, but for some odd reason, your opinion of me matters very much. I respect you a lot."

They both sat back in their chairs and stared into the sunset. "Thank you, Jack," he said quietly. "That means a lot to me, though for the life of me I can't tell you why."

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><p>Later that evening, when Sarah had called it a day and supper was over, she marveled at how nice and cozy everything was. The weather was getting cooler, so they had started a fire and it was burning brightly while she and John drank their hot cocoa.<p>

Faraday was sleeping peacefully on the mat in front of the fireplace. K-9 had been less than thrilled about Faraday when she had first brought him home, and had gone out of his way, in fact, to prove that the dog was not very bright and far inferior to a mechanical dog, but he was beginning to adjust, and had at least learned to tolerate him as long as he didn't get **too** much attention.

While John hadn't completely recovered from the injuries he'd sustained when he'd been kidnapped, he was definitely feeling better, and of late had felt well enough to do more than just work on the beacon he'd promised to build her. She was sure it was fruitless, of course, but trying to build a device to call the Doctor kept him busy and still when he needed to be. Besides, it made him happy to try and do this for her so that she could get some kind of closure.

At the moment, John was was busy playing with the computer and K-9 was chatting away with him, going on and on. They were both having such a good time, she had to chuckle warmly at them. She was really enjoying all this domestic bliss. She crossed quickly over to sit next to John on the couch, not wanting to block their view of the TV screen any longer than necessary. "What are you two up to now," she said, smiling as she sat down.

John smiled at her. "Oh, just working out some new calculations for the beacon. I think I can speed up the packet propagation if I can initiate five-dimensional tunneling. That, and K-9 doesn't understand the appeal of soap operas."

Sarah laughed heartily. "Now that's something I can actually understand, the rest of that scientific babble you two keep going on about is totally beyond me."

"Oh, so you're up on five-dimensional tunneling, are you?" he teased. "You should have said something, I could have used a hand."

"Oh you," she said nudging him playfully with her shoulder. "You know perfectly well I meant soap operas. The other bit is completely alien to me. As far as I know, it could be from Pluto or Mars or some such place."

John shuddered. "Goodness, I hope not. After being kidnapped, scanned, and zapped, I've had just about enough of aliens, thank you very much," he said, giving her a quick squeeze around the shoulders.

She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Just remember, you'll be dealing with one in a few months, and I hope, completely loving him or her."

John raised an eyebrow, concerned. "Pardon?"

"Our baby isn't human, have you forgotten that small detail?"

John sank back into the couch, thinking about that. He looked at her tummy, just beginning to give the slightest indication that she was pregnant. "Actually," he said, "I had." He leaned over and talked to her belly, as he'd been wont to do lately. "Baby," he said, "I know you're an alien, but you're going to be a good alien and not a bad alien, aren't you?" Then he switched to a high-pitched "baby" voice. "Yes, daddy," he said. The he sat up and turned to Sarah. "See? No problem," he said.

Sarah laughed at him and at the baby voice. "He or she's not going to have two heads or spit fire you know, after all the Doctor was humanoid, not some weird looking space creature."

"Oh sure," he said skeptically, "when you knew him. Who knows what he looked like when you weren't around?"

"Oh John, that's ridiculous. I knew him for quite a long time and he only shed his skin at night. The only other odd thing about him was his cloven feet and tail. Other than that, he looked just as normal as you do."

John went white for a moment. "Seriously?"

Sarah stared seriously at him as long as she could, then burst out laughing. She put a hand out on John's shoulder. "Oh, you should see the look on your face," she said, still laughing.

He smiled at her tentatively. "So you're just joking, then. He doesn't really have cloven feet and a tail and shed his skin and all that."

"Of course not, he's as completely human looking as Harry or the Brig."

John sighed with relief. "And speaking of the Brig, we're going to have to tell him about Little Peanut soon," he said, patting her stomach. "Maybe Monday morning."


	2. Chapter 2

"John, tomorrow is Monday," she said, laughing as she tousled his hair.

John squinched up his brow. "Really?"

"Yes, really. What day did you think it was?"

He thought about it for a moment. "I suppose I hadn't thought about it, actually," he said. "Friday?"

"No, sorry, today is Sunday. Honestly, John, you have no sense of time. However, I do agree that tomorrow's a good day for you to talk to the Brigadier," Sarah said. "We may get a bit of a dressing down from Harry when he finds out I'm having a baby. After all, you're still recovering, and we haven't been married that long."

"He did say to take it easy," John answered, "but he didn't say 'no'. And it has been almost two months."

Sarah put her head on John's shoulder and sighed. "Do you really expect people to believe that I'm having your child, John? Now that it's time to talk to the Brig about it, I'm beginning to get worried all over again."

John put his arm back around her shoulder and gave her another squeeze. Ever since they'd come up with a plan to tell everyone that the baby she was carrying was his and not the Doctor's, she'd been concerned about whether they'd really be able to pull it off.

"It's going to be fine," John said. They'd been over this a dozen times in the last few months, but he'd found that sometimes Sarah Jane just needed to hear it to feel better. "We're just going to explain to the Brigadier that it's likely that your DNA's been changed by your exposure to the time vortex, and that it may have an effect on the baby. He's not going to dispute that, I promise you."

"I hope you're right John. We've got enough to deal with as it is without having to face the Brig's wrath." She took his hand and rubbed her tummy. "This little peanut has two hearts and everything else that a normal Gallifreyan should have. Do you really think the Brig's going to overlook that?"

"He doesn't have to overlook it," he reassured her. "Because the fact is that even if everyone thinks that Peanut is the Doctor's child, nobody's going to say a word."

Sarah Jane sat straight up and stared at him. "Why not?"

"Would you want to tell a friend that his child belongs to someone else?" he asked. "Unless they're absolutely certain, and our DNA explanation makes that impossible, anybody who has suspicions is going to keep it to themselves."

Sarah chewed her lip as she thought about what he'd said. "Well, it's a great idea, however you seem to be implying that you're counting on them thinking that you don't know it's the Doctor's baby. They're all going to think I'm simply horrible to take that kind of advantage of you, and I would be too!"

He held her and smiled. "Not," John said, "if we convince them that you believe it too."

She leaned up and kissed him. "You're simply brilliant, have I ever told you that, John?"

He blushed. "The most brilliant thing I ever did is marry you."

"No, marrying me just proves that even you aren't perfect. It also proves that I'm a very lucky woman." She snuggled deeper into him.

John leaned back on the couch, enjoying the feeling of Sarah Jane next to him. Life had been quiet for several weeks, but considering what had come before, he made it a point to enjoy every moment of peace they could get.

Suddenly Faraday - who had woken up, seen the affection going on, and decided that he wanted in on it - started licking his face profusely.

"Mood spoiler," laughed Sarah Jane.

John tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid the onslaught. "Maybe we'd better head off to bed. Big day tomorrow." 

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><p>It was dark, and the car had no headlights, but John still careened down the road, desperate to get away. Part of him tried to see something, anything on the pitch black street, and he thought that it was so … surreal that this had to be a dream.<p>

But how many times had he thought that? And how many times had he been wrong?

Just as he thought about it, he felt like his chest exploded as the car hit something and he slammed into the steering wheel. Without thinking he threw open the door and climbed out.

Before him was a huge door, glowing in the darkness. A strange man with no face stood in front of it, beckoning him. "Come in," he said, "everyone's expecting you."

John felt himself pulled toward the door and strained to stay back. He couldn't go in there. He just couldn't. He knew that.

He turned and started to run away from the glowing door but then he realized he was running straight for … he turned back towards the car, but it was destroyed; he couldn't go back there. He spun around knowing that there was danger in every direction, trapping him, cutting off all escape. Finally he just ran blindly into into pitch blackness, not knowing where he was going, simply trying to get away.

But still he could hear it behind him. He didn't know what it was, but it had been following him in his nightmares for weeks, always slowly creeping up on him, getting closer and closer no matter how fast he tried to get away.

Another step and there was nothing beneath him; he was falling, falling into the abyss, screaming for all he was worth …

"John, John, wake up. You're having another nightmare." Sarah gently shook her husband's shoulder. "It's alright John, you're safe now, no one's going to hurt you." She put her arms around him and cradled him until he started to stir out of his dreams.

John heard Sarah's voice and clawed his way to it, forcing himself to wake up, forcing his eyes open and squinting in the light of Sarah's bedside lamp. He felt her arms around him, told himself that she'd turned the light on for him, as she'd taken to doing lately, told himself to calm down, he wasn't falling any more, wasn't going to - his body convulsed for a moment in what Harry kept insisting was a perfectly normal "myoclonic jerk" - a simple contraction of muscles that was common in people waking from a falling dream, even if it did usually happen while they were still asleep. He threw his arms around Sarah Jane. "I'm so sorry," he panted.

"It's alright darling, no need to apologize." She stroked his head, worried about him. Most of the time, when it was daytime, John was his usual, happy self. But since the kidnapping...

Certainly the nightmares were better than they had been. When he'd first been "released" - if they could even call it that - they'd happened almost every time he closed his eyes, and Harry had been beside himself with worry that the stress was going to cause his heart to fail. He'd even considered sedating John until he was stronger.

UNIT had flown in a specialist, Doctor Jaquith, all the way from Geneva. The psychiatrist focused on trauma patients, and he agreed with Harry's quiet assessment that John was suffering from what he called "post-traumatic stress disorder". Unfortunately, he also agreed that John wasn't yet strong enough to deal with what had happened, and that was why he'd suppressed his memories of it.

So here they were, months later, with no idea what had actually happened or why. And that meant that they had no idea how to help.

"I just hate to see you losing so much sleep over this," she said, rubbing his back gently. "Maybe Harry's right and you should consider letting him prescribe some sleeping pills for you."

"Oh, no," John said, shaking his head and giving a sudden shudder. "Not after that one time in the hospital when I couldn't wake up." He tried one of the deep breathing exercises Doctor Jaquith had taught him, and felt himself starting to calm down. "It was closer," he said.

"What was closer, John?" she asked him. Sarah Jane tried to think like the investigative reporter she was. If she could just get more information, maybe she could help him.

"The … whatever is chasing me. It's closer than it was the last time. Every time I dream about it it gets closer." He looked up at her pleadingly. "What am I going to do when it catches me?"

She rubbed his shoulder. "I wish I knew the right thing to say, but all I can do is suggest is that you call out for me and I'll wake you up."

John nodded and let her hold him until he stopped shaking. Then he lay there a bit longer, until he was mostly calm. He looked over at the clock. "I don't think I'm going to go back to sleep," he said. "I'll be a little early, but I think I'll just head in to work, if you don't mind."

Sarah sighed. So much for getting more out of John now. Perhaps next time she'd have better luck. "That's fine, John. I think I'll get up for the day too. I want to try and finish the last chapter of my new book today. I'll have a better chance with it if I start now," she smiled warmly at him.

John smiled back at her. He knew she'd never get up at 5:30 in the morning of her own accord, but he loved her for it.

Besides, today he was going to talk to the Brigadier.


	3. Chapter 3

John would have been lying if he'd said that he wasn't nervous about talking to the Brigadier, but he knew that it had to be done. It was time to tell him that Sarah was pregnant, and the baby might not be completely human.

Not that he rushed to it, of course. He arrived early in the morning, as he usually did when there was work for him, first straightening up his workspace - now proudly adorned with a permanent "John Tinker" nameplate - and waving and saying hello to people as they came in.

The Brig hadn't needed him for anything terribly difficult - just some repairs that he probably could have handled at the workshop - but he liked coming into the office. Because of his somewhat "unique" situation of having no memories older than a few months, he enjoyed being with people who knew him. It made him feel more anchored, more secure.

But the repairs themselves were done before Mister Benton had even finished his morning coffee, and he knew he couldn't put it off any longer.

He tried be as casual as possible, but he still jumped just a little when Mister Benton said the Brigadier was ready to see him. "Good morning, sir," he said, coming in and waiting to be told to take a seat.

"Ah, good morning Mister Tinker," the Lethbridge-Stewart boomed. "You look as if you're recovering well. I'm quite sure a good deal of that is due to that very attentive nurse of yours."

"Absolutely sir," John smiled. "In fact, my very attentive nurse is rather what I'd like to talk to you about."

The Brig wasn't sure what John wanted, but he hoped it wasn't advice. "I trust marital life is agreeing with you and Miss Sm- I mean Mrs. Tinker," he corrected himself. "Don't tell me you're having problems already."

John looked quizzically at him. He'd rehearsed this in his head a hundred times, and the idea that they would be having problems had never come up. "No sir, absolutely not. Things are going better than we could possibly have imagined. In fact, I have wonderful news."

"Good, what sort of news?"

John felt the excitement fill him up, despite his nervousness. His grin looked like it would split his face. "We're going to have a baby."

"Good heavens man, are you sure?" the Brig asked, rising from his chair for a moment then catching himself and sitting down again. "You've only been married, what, two months? And part of that time you were in hospital recovering."

John blushed. "Well, sir, there are certain undeniable signs, but we'll need a doctor to confirm it absolutely."

The Brig let out a sigh and relaxed a bit. "Best to confirm these things before you make any further announcements Mister Tinker. It could save you a lot of embarrassment."

"Yes sir, well, that's … er... why I'm here. I need to ask for your opinion. As the head of UNIT, I thought that you'd be the best person to come to to help sort something out. You see, sir, it's a very sensitive problem and we need someone we can trust to talk to about it. I told Sarah that I felt sure you'd know how to handle it." He waited for the Brig's response. No turning back now.

"Mister Tinker, I may be the head of UNIT, but I hardly see why that qualifies me to be the one person who can offer advice to you or Sarah Jane on your uhm..." He started to blush. "On whatever sort of problems that women have when they're in a family way," he spat out in frustration. "Speaking of Mrs. Tinker, why the devil isn't your wife here with you to discuss the matter, man?"

"Actually, sir," John said, what little confidence he had come in with evaporating before his eyes, "she feels that I'm being silly, and that this really isn't a problem. But I think that this is one time when UNIT really needs to be involved."

The Brigs eyebrows went up as he looked at John with surprise and concern. He had a very strong feeling that he didn't want to know the answer to the question he was now compelled to ask. "What possible involvement could UNIT have with your wife's presumed pregnancy?"

"Well you see, sir, you know that I've been working on that beacon to contact the Doctor, and I was doing some calculations," he continued before the Brig could interrupt - or, he hoped, think about it - "and it seems to me that someone who travels through time like Sarah did would be exposed to a very particular form of … well, temporal radiation is the best way to put it. I don't think that it would be harmful for a short period, or even a long period, but after several years of that and all sorts of alien environments and food and organisms, well, there's a very strong possibility that her DNA isn't … well, it's entirely possible that after all that she could have some … anomalies that could be passed on to a baby." He held his breath - and the Brig's gaze.

The Brig eyed John coolly. He should have seen this coming. Before making any judgements, however, he decided he'd better get to the bottom of this. "So you feel that it would be imprudent to have her go to a doctor outside of UNIT. Perhaps that's wisest, however UNIT doesn't have typically have need for an obstetrician." He paused to think. "I suppose that we could find someone here to examine her."

The Brigadier stood again and paced slightly behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back. "I'd like to ask, though, how you would feel if you found out that your wife is having a baby with..." he paused again as he studied John's face. "Shall we say, two hearts?"

John was careful to keep his gaze. Maybe Sarah Jane was right, and this wasn't going to work. "Two hearts, sir?" he said, trying to sound as if it were a new idea, without actually telling an untruth. "I suppose that's possible. System redundancy does seem to be a strong possibility due to this kind of exposure. I mean, it'd be all right with me as long as the baby were healthy, but we wouldn't want to attract any attention."

"Certainly not if that were the case. Tell me, how does Mrs. Tinker feel about this?"

"Well, sir," John said carefully, "she thinks that I'm completely overthinking this. She thinks that the chances of something like that happening are pretty ridiculous, and that's why she didn't want me to bother you with it. But I've been delving very deeply into the temporal mechanics of the situation, and I assure you that it's not ridiculous at all. It's entirely possible."

John felt himself swallow nervously and prayed that the Brig hadn't seen it. After all, everything he had said was absolutely true. Sarah did think the story was ridiculous, and that nobody would believe it, and to him, the science was indeed clear - though he didn't mention that the odds against something like this were astronomical.

As for the Brigadier, he had liked John from the moment he had met him, but at that moment, he found that he had tremendous respect for the man. At first, he'd tried to decide whether Mister Tinker was actually convinced that this was his child, or he was just trying to protect his wife's reputation. But neither of them were stupid; they both knew full well who the father of the baby was, and he realized how much John must love Sarah Jane to go to these lengths to protect her and her child in this way. If it hadn't yet been clear to him how completely devoted John was to her, it certainly was now.

The Brig smirked slightly. What's more, if Mister Tinker was, as he suspected, the Doctor, it occurred to him that he was protecting Sarah Jane and his own child. Talk about irony. "Well then, let us find the best person we have for her and set up an appointment as soon as possible, shall we?"

John breathed a sigh of relief, but tried not to make it too obvious. "Thank you, sir, I really appreciate it. And I promise you I won't make a habit of asking for favors, it's just that this really seemed a job for UNIT, so to speak."

"I agree, you were quite right to come to me. Please be so kind as to wait and I'll have everything arranged in short order." He didn't wait for an answer, instead picking up his phone. "Get me Dr. Carlisle at once." He pushed a paperweight on his desk around, then cleared his throat slightly. "Ah, Dr. Carlisle, I'd like to speak to you about a rather delicate matter. How soon can you be here? Ten minutes, splendid." He hung up and smiled at John. "You'll like this fellow, he's an excellent man, very discreet and quite trustworthy."

John wasn't sure about the way the Brig had said "discreet", but he was grateful that so far, at least, his plan was working; the Brig may have intimated that the baby wasn't his, but he hadn't stepped over that line, and John was thankful. "Thank you, sir. Sarah was terribly afraid you'd want Harry to take care of it, and she absolutely refused. Can't say I blame her. He's a fantastic Doctor, of course," he said, "but … well …"

"No, of course, it simply wouldn't do," the Brigadier said. 

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane held John's hand as they waited to be called in for her first exam by Dr. Carlisle. "I don't understand, John, why did they tell me to drink as much water as I can and then just have us sit out here? It doesn't make any sense."<p>

John thought about it. "I wonder..." he said. "There's this test called an ultrasound they've been using in Scotland, maybe they're planning on using it now."

"What does it do, and what's drinking all that water have to do with it?"

"Well," John said excitedly, "they use sound waves to bounce off things and look inside to see the actual baby, and they need … well, the water's like a conductor." His eyes widened. "I wonder if we're going to get to see our little peanut. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" He thought about what he was saying. "You're serious about no tail, or hooves or anything, right? I'd have a hard time explaining that."

If Sarah Jane wasn't so nervous, she would have burst out laughing. "Of course I'm serious, the baby hasn't got a tail or hooves, not even horns, it's just a ... hang about, what did you say, how can we see the baby, that's not possible, is it?"

"Maybe," John said. "It's called an ultrasound. It's kind of like radar, only it won't fry your insides. I'm dying to see him or her, aren't you?"

"Actually," she said in a low whisper. "All I want to do right now is get this over with as quickly as possible and go home. In fact, if the doctor doesn't see us soon, I'm thinking of bolting. UNIT or not, I don't like the idea of anyone finding out that my baby isn't exactly one hundred percent human."

John held her hand reassuringly. "It's going to be all right," he said. But still, he was hoping Doctor Carlisle would arrive before he had to convince her not to leave.


	4. Chapter 4

After a few minutes, a nurse walked over to Sarah and asked her to come with her.

Sarah Jane looked over at John, then back to the nurse. "Can my husband come with me, please?"

"In a little while, Mrs. Tinker. I promise when you're ready someone will bring him back to the examining room. Right now we just need you to come with me so we can prep you for your exam."

Sarah Jane went with her reluctantly.

A few moments later Harry walked by on the way to his office. "Hello John, do I have an appointment with you today," he smiled.

John heard his voice and jumped a little. Continuing the charade of not telling anyone at UNIT until they were certain, he still hadn't told Harry that Sarah Jane was pregnant. "Um … no, actually. It's … good to see you, though."

Harry laughed. "Well, what are you doing here then, old man?"

More music to face, John thought. "Well, you know that Sarah Jane and I have been married for a few months now."

"Yes of course, but I'm afraid I'm failing to make the connection..." he paused. "I say, is Sarah Jane ill? What's the matter with her? Who's seeing to her, I'll go assist." He started towards the nurses' station to get information.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sarah had been weighed and measured and instructed to change into an open gown, then given another to use as a robe.<p>

A tall older man in a white lab coat opened the door and smiled kindly at her. He picked up the chart on the counter and started to look it over. "Hello, Mrs. Tinker. I'm Doctor Carlisle. I've heard a lot of nice things about you from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart." He stretched his hand out to her.

"Thank you, Doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you. I was told that my husband could be here with me. Could you please have someone go and get him?"

"Certainly, just as soon as we get the initial part of the exam done. For now, though, I'm going to have my nurse come in and assist me."

* * *

><p>"No, no," John said, grabbing Harry's arm. "She's not ill, she's …" He took a deep breath. "We think she may be … well … having a baby."<p>

Harry stopped and stared at John, then sat down next to him. "Having a baby! But you've only been married a few months and you are supposed to be recovering from your injuries. You're weren't supposed to be doing anything strenuous yet, you know that."

John leaned back involuntarily from the intensity of Harry's reaction, but couldn't stop smiling. "You said take it easy, you didn't say we couldn't. Besides, you've been letting me play football, haven't you?"

"First of all, in your condition, it never occurred to me that you and Sarah would! I did tell you to stay calm above all else and besides, you're the goalie, not much exercise in that the way we play is there?"

Harry was clearly flustered. Thinking back, he did remember that Sarah had asked him if she and John could have children, but she had agreed to let him recover first. While he definitely had told Sarah Jane that John was making a very good recovery and was coming along very well, he didn't think that she would assume he was recovered enough to...

He sighed as he saw the happy look on John's face. It was too late now to do anything about it, and anyway, John's last checkup has been a fairly good one. "Well, then congratulations, John old man," he said as he gave him a slap on the back. "But I don't understand why you and Sarah Jane are here instead of at an ObGyn's, especially since UNIT doesn't have any sort of maternity care available."

"Er … yes, well, I'm afraid I was being a bit … overprotective, and I asked the Brigadier for a bit of an assist. Sarah Jane thinks I'm being silly, but... well, any chance to try out some new technology, eh?"

"New technology? I'm afraid I still don't follow you, dear boy."

"Yes," John said excitedly. "There's this new technology called an ultrasound that lets you actually look inside the human body and see what's there. They've been using it in Scotland to look for tumors, but why stop there?" His eyes lit up. "We can actually see the baby in there!"

"Well, that is quite remarkable isn't it? I had no idea things had progressed to that point. Who is the old girl seeing? I'd like to have a word with him on it."

John told himself not to be nervous. Sooner or later Harry was going to find out about the baby's extra hearts, and he was the one person - besides the Brig - that was least likely to buy their story. "Well, the Brig recommended Doctor Carlisle. You see, I … I asked for his help because I was doing some calculations for the beacon - you remember that beacon that I was building for Sarah Jane to contact the Doctor? Well there's an awful lot of temporal mechanics involved there and when I was doing the math I was beginning to realize that there was some … er … well, a sort of temporal radiation that she would have … Oh, Harry, actually," he said, suddenly realizing how fast he was talking, "you'd have been exposed to it too! Well, not for as long, of course, and you're not having a baby, so there'd be nothing for you to pass down, even if your DNA did get a little scrambled."

Harry put his hand on John's shoulder. "Steady on, John, what's all this you're trying to tell me? Just what have Sarah Jane and I been exposed to, and how has it affected our DNA?"

John took a deep breath and tried to slow down. "All of my calculations for the beacon show that traveling through time would expose you to a sort of temporal radiation. It's … a kind of ambient temporal energy, like sunlight, only on a dimensional scale. It's not dangerous for a short time, or even necessarily for a long time, but there's a definite possibility that long term exposure can lead to mutations in DNA that while they aren't dangerous in and of themselves, they could be passed on to a baby, and it could lead to some … abnormalities."

Before Harry could respond a nurse appeared. "They're ready for you now. Come with me please, Mister Tinker."

Harry sat and watched as the nurse led John away. He shook his head for a moment and stood, musing as he went back to his office.

Truth be told, he was a bit miffed, and on several counts. First, he was hurt that this was how he found out about the baby. He was supposed to be John's best friend, and here was Doctor Carlisle - a perfectly good doctor, but a relative stranger as far as John and Sarah were concerned - with a leg up on him. He wouldn't even be surprised if Jack Harkness already knew as well.

Second, both Sarah Jane and John had promised him that John wouldn't engage in anything strenuous; it was the one condition on which he'd sent them home from the hospital just … He thought back. Just five weeks ago.

Not really long enough to be certain that Sarah Jane was pregnant.

Harry thought back to Sarah Jane's specific question about she and John being able to have children, and suddenly everything was clear. He'd thought John's proposal a little sudden at the time, and though he had no doubt as to how the two of them felt about each other, at the moment, he also had no doubt that their abbreviated engagement was not an accident.

He slammed the files he was carrying on his desk a little harder than he'd meant to. There were two possibilities here, and he didn't know which bothered him more.

Either John was the father, which was difficult to believe, or the Doctor was the father, which was difficult to accept.

With all of the techno-babble John had just tried to bury him in, he had a pretty good idea of which direction the wind was blowing. It all sounded reasonable, of course, but so did a lot of the things the Doctor used to say, even when Harry was certain he was making them up as he went along.

Whichever was the case, Harry just wished that they'd have let him in on it. He'd finally begun to felt like he was part of something, and now he once again felt like a third wheel, just like he had when he was traveling in the TARDIS. After all, he was still getting used to having Jack around, and not even entirely comfortable at that.

All he really wanted was to make a difference, to fit in, to do something good, and he felt thwarted at every turn.

* * *

><p>The nurse smiled at John as she led him into the examining room. "Is this your first baby?"<p>

John smiled back nervously. He was hoping that his demeanor would be taken for that of a typical nervous father, but of course there was more to it than that; deep down inside, he'd known from the beginning that Sarah's baby wasn't entirely human, but it hadn't really hit home until recently, and now, after talking to Harry, despite all of their joking, he was just a bit concerned about what they were going to find. "Is everything all right?"

The nurse laughed. "The Doctor has just started the exam, but I'm sure your wife and baby are fine."

John exhaled. "Right, so then … yes?" He smiled bashfully.

"Yes," she said shaking her head as they reached the examining room. She knocked on the door and then opened it for John.

Sarah looked over and smiled nervously at him. "Doctor Carlisle, this is my husband, John Tinker."

"Pleasure to meet you sir," the doctor said, holding his hand out to John.

"And you," John said, shaking his hand. "So we're going to be able to … see the baby?"

"Actually yes, I must say, you are quite an impressive boffin, Mr. Tinker. Ultrasound is a fairly new procedure to obstetrics."

"So I understand," John said, glad to be on more solid ground. "But it seems like if you can see a tumor, you can see a baby, right? I'm just … well, I'm a bit anxious to make sure the little peanut's all right. I'm sure the Brigadier explained to you that Sarah's been exposed to some … well, she's had some unusual exposures, and it could lead to some genetic abnormalities."

"Yes, I was informed of that and now that the formalities are over, let's get on with the exam shall we?" He turned to Sarah and smiled. "Since we've already done the first part of the exam and determined that you are, in fact, having a baby, why don't you lay back down on the table and the nurse will cover you with a nice warm blanket."

Once Sarah Jane was covered up and comfortable, the doctor got out a huge swab and a jar of clear jelly-like fluid. Then he gently pulled the blanket down a bit until Sarah's abdomen was exposed. "This is going to feel a little cool, Mrs. Tinker," he said as he began to smear her stomach with the swab he had dipped in the gelatinous substance. "Once we get this on you, we can begin the ultrasound."

Sarah quietly reached out for John's hand.

John took her hand and smiled. They'd been married for two months, but he still thrilled at little moments of intimacy like this one.

The nurse dragged a huge machine on wheels over to the doctor. "Thank you," he smiled at her, turned it on and started to fuss with a few dials. He turned to Sarah and John. "I'm not an ObGyn, and though I've used this type of machine before, I must admit, this is the first time I've done it to find a baby. I hope you'll be patient with me."

The doctor paused as he pulled out the transducer and then stood over Sarah Jane. "This won't hurt my dear. What I'm going to do is pass this over your abdomen until I find the baby. Once I do that, I can determine how far along you are, and you can look at the monitor and see what your little one looks like. You'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat too. I've been told this is a very beautiful experience for parents," he smiled at them. "Any questions before I begin?"

Sarah Jane squeezed John's hand and looked at him with no expression on her face, but her eyes spoke volumes. She was terrified.

John wasn't feeling so good either, but he plastered a smile on his face and tried to be as reassuring as possible. "I suppose not," he said. "Will you be able to tell if there are any … genetic issues this way?"

The doctor thought about what the Brigadier had told him. He felt sorry for this poor man, just married and his wife was pregnant with an alien baby. Even if he knew it, it was still a noble gesture on his part. "Well, I will be able to detect any obvious outward anomalies or defects, but let's just have a look before we worry unduly, shall we?"

"Right, of course," John said. "And really, as long as the baby's healthy, it doesn't actually matter, right, sweetheart?" He looked at Sarah.

"Of course," nodded Sarah even though she didn't look very convinced.

"Right then, let's get started." The doctor placed the wand-like device on Sarah Jane's stomach and slowly started to move it around in the area where he felt the baby should be. In a few moments he saw a tiny foot on the monitor. He moved the receptor slightly. "Well, take a look, there's a perfectly formed set of legs and two small feet." He smiled confidently.

John gasped. As much as he'd been thinking about it, he hadn't really been prepared for this moment. "I see them! Feet! And … toes," he said, smiling at Sarah. "Ten perfect little toes." He felt his heart pounding with excitement.

Sarah smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. "I can see them too! That's our baby, John."

"Yes, it's our baby," he said, feeling emotion washing over him.


	5. Chapter 5

Seeing the look on John's face, Sarah suddenly turned to Doctor Carlisle. "I'm very sorry, doctor, but could we please have a minute alone? I promise we won't be too long."

"This is highly unusual, but I suppose we can do that." He turned to his nurse and nodded at her, then they left the room.

Sarah watched them leave then looked over at her husband. "What is it John, what's wrong? I can always tell when something's bothering you."

He tried to smile at her, but he could feel a sadness in his chest. "I just … I feel sorry for him."

Sarah was totally confused. "Him, him who?"

"The Doctor," he whispered. "He should... this should be his moment, but he's … I don't know, I just feel like … well, if he could ever stop running long enough to just … I mean, he must be so … lonely."

Sarah rubbed John's shoulder and sighed. "I know, John. It's very sad but, I'm not even sure he would want the baby if he did know about it. Besides, if he really cared, he would have come back to me by now. Maybe the real truth is that because he's a Gallifreyan he doesn't feel the same way about people that humans do, not even his own child."

John thought about that. Here he was over the moon about Little Peanut, how could anybody not feel the same way? Considering how much joy he felt about standing in for Peanut's father, he couldn't imagine his or her actual father not wanting to be here. Unless... "Maybe," John said, "he's just afraid." He shook his head. "Sorry, it was just a bit … overwhelming for a moment. But we'd better get them back in here before they get suspicious, yeah?"

"You're right, we should. We've already made them too suspicious by asking them to leave. Just wait till Doctor Carlisle finds the baby's hearts."

John went to the door and stuck his head out. "Sorry about that, doctor, it's er … this is my first child and I'm a bit emotional. You can come back in now."

Doctor Carlisle had a feeling he knew exactly why Mr. Tinker was being emotional. He didn't blame him at all. He just got a glimpse of another man's child in his wife's womb. "Its quite alright, but if you don't mind, we should move along, I still have several patients to see today and my surgical rounds to attend to."

He picked his up the wand and started up again. He found the baby faster this time and started moving the receptor up the baby's body. Suddenly he heard an odd sound. "There's definitely something not right here," he said with concern. "The baby's heart beat is too fast and..." he moved the receptor to get a look at the child's heart and was stunned. "No, this baby has two hearts," he exclaimed. "That's definitely what I'd call an anomaly."

John tried to sound casual as he turned to Sarah. "You see? I told you, exposure to temporal energies would favor redundant systems. And you thought I was being silly."

"Well, how was I to know something like that would happen? Is that dangerous for the baby, doctor? Can he or she survive that way?"

"Well, I think it's too early to say, but given the baby's size, it's about fourteen weeks old, and he or she has hung on this long, which is a good sign. The baby seems perfectly healthy, so I'd be inclined to be optimistic. I mean, there are two heartbeats, but they're both good and strong." He moved the receptor a bit more. "The baby also has several duplicate organs and a few that I have no idea how to identify. So, yes, this is quite an unusual baby." He looked at Sarah intently but said nothing else.

Sarah in turn swallowed hard. "It can't be fourteen weeks old. There must be some mistake."

'Odd,' thought the doctor. 'She doesn't seem surprised or concerned about the abnormalities, just the baby's age.' "Perhaps the baby's growth pattern isn't normal either, Mrs. Tinker."

"Well," John said, "I would think that with all of those extra organs, we can't really predict how fast the baby is going to grow. There might be a much slower growth rate, or as it seems here, it might be faster, seeming to indicate that the baby's older than he or she really is. Or it might be faster at first until everything is established, so to speak, then slow down and sort of coast for a while. I suppose there's no real way of knowing. I'm afraid, my dear," he said to Sarah, "that you've found yourself a little petrie dish for a genetic experiment."

"No thank you," said Sarah firmly as she started to get up to leave. "No one is going to be experimenting on me or my baby."

"I just meant," John said, taking her arm and trying to keep her from leaving, "that we don't really know what's going to happen here, because you've passed on some unknown genetic mutations. That's all. I didn't mean to scare you, dear. Our baby does seem to be … otherwise healthy, right?" He looked to the doctor for reassurance.

"As far as I can tell given the situation, the baby appears to be quite healthy. But this pregnancy is going to have to be monitored very carefully. From the looks of it right now, I'd say nothing about it is indicating that it's going to be a typical gestation and delivery. "

"Well then," John said, rubbing his hands together. "That's wonderful news." He hugged Sarah carefully. "Did you hear that? Little Peanut's doing just fine."

The doctor smiled at John's complete dismissal of anything remotely negative that had been said. "Would you like to know the baby's gender, or would you rather be surprised?"

John looked to Sarah, incredulous. "You can tell us that?" he asked.

"Luckily for you, the baby just happens to be in the perfect position right now or I wouldn't be able to detect anything, but at this moment, I can tell you if you like."

John turned to Sarah. It really was her decision. "What do you think?"

Sarah smiled and shrugged. "You of all people should know what my curiosity is like."

He turned back to the doctor. "That would be a 'yes'."

"Well," he said. "Why don't you see for yourselves?" He put the receptor over the the center of the baby, then lowered it a bit.

John marvelled. "Well unless I'm completely confused, that is definitely a boy," he said. "It's a he!" he smiled. "Right?"

"I'd say you hit the nail right on the head, Mr. Tinker. In my considered medical opinion, you have a son."

"It's a boy," said Sarah Jane to John with excitement.

"It's a boy," he repeated, and hugged her.

Sarah hugged him back, taking comfort and strength from John's arms. At this moment she realized how blessed she was to have him. There was no way she could go through all of this alone.

* * *

><p>Doctor Carlisle walked into the Brigadier's office without waiting to be announced. He slapped the report on the desk in front of his commanding officer. "I think I need more information on this one, sir."<p>

The Brigadier raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Take a look at that report, and then you tell me."

He looked at the report. Two hearts, four lungs, two spleens ... just what he'd expected. There was no way that Mister Tinker ... "Wait a minute," he said as he kept reading. "Fourteen weeks?"

"Exactly, unless we're looking at a very unusual gestation schedule, and we just may be, we have no idea who the father of this baby is."

"Fourteen weeks..." the Brig repeated. He considered the options. That was just about how long it had been since Mister Tinker had insisted that there was nothing going on between him and Sarah Jane. But certainly the Doctor hadn't been back around then. And if this was indeed Mister Tinker's baby, then his suspicions about him might be more on target than even he'd suspected.

"I suppose," he finally said, "that other than doing a blood test on the baby once he's born, we'll just have to watch and see what happens."

The Brigadier dismissed Carlisle and stared at the report. He appreciated the fact that Mister Tinker was trying to protect Sarah Jane's reputation - and her baby - but he was more concerned about protecting them from something more sinister.

They still hadn't gotten to the bottom of Mister Tinker's kidnapping, which meant they didn't know what Torchwood had been looking for. They hadn't even been able to find out who had called the first ambulance. Mister Tinker still had been no help with regards to any of it, and now there was a baby in the mix.

An alien baby.

So the question became, how long could they prevent Torchwood from finding out? And if they did find out, what would they do about it?


	6. Chapter 6

"See?" John told Sarah as he walked her back to the car, "No problem."

Sarah Jane snorted. "To anyone else, maybe, but my reporter's instincts tell me that he didn't buy a word of it. He was just following the Brig's orders and playing it calm."

"Of course he didn't buy it. I told you," John said, "we don't need anybody to buy it, we just need them to wonder if **we** buy it and nobody will say anything, which is the point. This is UNIT, they're not going to dissect the baby, and nobody would be so cruel as to say something to the baby once it's born."

Sarah sighed. "I suppose you're right, but the whole facade seems rather silly. I mean, we know they know, and they know we know they know, and no one says anything about it. I'm just glad that's over."

"Well it is silly, but for the baby's sake, it's a facade that everyone needs to maintain." He opened the car door for her and waited while she got in. "That is why we did this in the first place, isn't it? For the baby's sake?"

Sarah smiled again. "Yes John, for the baby's sake and yours. That's worth it and more to me." She brushed his face with her hand. "Let's go home, shall we?" 

* * *

><p>Lavinia's voice was scratchier than usual on the telephone, but considering where she was, it was almost a miracle that there was a phone at all. "I got your message when we got back to Anori but I didn't have time to call you before we set off down the river," she told Sarah. "What's the good word?"<p>

"The baby is healthy, doing well and it's a boy," Sarah almost sang to her aunt.

"That's wonderful!" Lavinia called. "And no ... problems?"

"None, unless of course you consider the expected situation, knowing who his father is. Oh Aunt, we actually got to look at him."

"You did? That's amazing! Oh, Sarah Jane, I'm so happy for you! Who'd have thought when you came to live with me that that sad little girl who missed her mum would be a mum herself!"

"Not me, that's for certain. Funny, now it's all I can think of. Can you just see me with a baby in my arms?"

"That I can." Lavinia thought back to the woman she'd been when Sarah had first come to live with her. She'd just been starting her career then, and when her brother had died she'd begun to crawl into her shell and shut herself into a shell of anger and bitterness. Having to set an example for Sarah Jane had forced her to engage with the world and be the person she was. Now her baby was having her own baby, and with obstacles she couldn't even fathom. "Now, nobody gave you any ... problems, right?"

"Not a one. Everyone has been more than kind." She started to laugh. "You should see John, he's running around telling everyone he knows. When we were at UNIT, he was pulling people into his office to tell them as they walked by. Poor John Benton almost dropped a huge stack of reports," she laughed. "Then when John told him about 'our son' he fell off the chair he was sitting in and paper scattered everywhere anyway. He's even taken to stopping every neighbor we have to inform them of our blessed event. Everyone is quite happy for us of course, but honestly, you'd think John was the one having the baby. I expect him to put an announcement in the papers next."

Lavinia laughed. "Considering the situation, I'd say you have yourself a keeper there."

"And don't I know it? There will never be a time that I won't love and appreciate John. He's wonderful and I simply don't know what I'd do without him, Auntie."

"Let's hope you don't have to find out." 

* * *

><p>John stared at the beacon. He'd been working on it for months now, on and off as his health allowed, and now it was finally ready.<p>

Part of him had thought he'd just flip the switch and be done with it, but it wasn't that simple. Sarah should be here for this, he thought. She was the reason he'd built it. And she was the reason he was nervous about turning it on.

Oh, he wasn't jealous or anything.

He told himself that.

And maybe he was even right. But there as a little part of him that wondered what would happen when the Doctor did come back.

He'd meant it when he told Sarah that he would step aside if that ever happened, but now that it was a real possibility...

But Sarah Jane loved him, he knew that. He was sure of it.

And she deserved to have closure, he reminded himself. That was why he'd built the beacon. He headed back into the house to get her.

Sarah Jane saw John heading from his workshop to the house. She hurried to meet him at the door. "Do you need something, John?"

"Yes, I need something important," he said. "I need you."

Sarah put her arms around him. "Well here I am, John."

He smiled and hugged her. "Well, I need you out in the workshop. The beacon is ready, and I thought you should be there when I turned it on."

Sarah nodded but didn't stop hugging her husband. "Oh, I see," she said playfully. She was touched by John's consideration. What would happen if the beacon really did work?

What would she say to the Doctor, and how would he react if she told him she was having his baby? For that matter, what would he think of John?

She was sure it wouldn't work, or at least that's what she tried to convince herself. She looked at John's face. He was clearly trying not to let her see that he was worried, yet he was willing to do this for her even if it meant he could lose her. She wondered if the Doctor would sacrifice that much for her.

She hugged John a bit tighter. "Well then, give me a kiss and let's go, shall we?"

John smiled. 'Well then, give me a kiss and...' was a common phrase in the Tinker house, and usually followed by a playful peck. But John he thought about what they were about to do and the possible ramifications, and gave her a more serious kiss instead. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can John, ask me anything."

He hesitated. "What if the Doctor wants you to come back with him?"

"I'm married to you John, not the Doctor," she answered him softly.

"I know, but …" He squirmed a little. "It's not as though... well, you know."

Sarah shook her head. "You and the baby are the most important people in my life right now. I will always love the Doctor, I won't lie to you about that. But my life is here with you and our baby. I'm in love with you, John Sidney Tinker, never forget that."

He felt himself blushing, embarrassed at even having asked. "And I'll never get tired of hearing it, either. I love you, Mrs. Tinker, and I love our life."

"I love our life too, John, and nothing will ever change that."

"In that case," he said, holding out his hand, "shall we go?"

Sarah followed him out to his workshop, even though deep in her heart, she knew it wouldn't work. John was brilliant, but no human - even John, as smart as he was - could do this. The Doctor roamed throughout time and space, how could anyone pinpoint him long enough to get a message to him?

The odds against them were insurmountable, but John wanted so desperately to do this for her, she just couldn't hurt his feelings. So, she went along with it. "Promise me you won't be too disappointed if he doesn't respond right away, or even at all. He's not very fond of being summoned, no matter what the reason."

"Well, we've got to try," he said. He pointed to the switch. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she smiled.

"Then the honors are all yours. Just flip that switch, and a message goes out to everywhere, and everywhen." He waited.

Sarah looked a little nervously at the switch, closed her eyes and then flipped it. "There we are. So now we just sit back and wait heh?"

He nodded expectantly. "We just … wait." He looked around as though he expected something to happen.

John tapped his fingers on the workbench. "Nothing else we can do, really," he said, pacing back and forth as Sarah watched.

He glanced at his watch, waiting a little longer. "I mean, I suppose there's no reason to assume that he'll come back to this exact moment."

"No, none what-so-ever," she said with a pursed smile. "Just remember, I did warn you that he hates to be summoned by anyone."

He nodded. "Of course," he said, remembering all of the times he'd defended the Doctor, insisting that there had to be a good reason he hadn't come back, and that he would if he just knew that Sarah Jane needed him. "And of course he might just be … busy. Or he might come back to a later point in time for some reason."

"Right, in the meanwhile, I have a roast in the oven that I need to check on. You will excuse me, won't you, John?" She didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she gave him a peck on the cheek and quickly headed back towards the kitchen.

John watched her go, then sat down on his stool and stared at the beacon, wondering what - if anything - had gone wrong. 

* * *

><p>Sarah walked into the back door of her home, through the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom. She fell on the bed and cried bitter tears.<p>

She'd meant every word she'd said to John, and she had no regrets. She had convinced herself it wouldn't work, yet a small part of her dared to hope it would. To her, turning on the beacon then having him not turn up signaled the end of her relationship with the Doctor.

He was gone and she would never see him again. She knew that now.

Not even John, bless his brilliant mind and unselfish heart, could bring him back to her. Sometimes the universe was a vast, cold and emotionless place, and she of all people knew that.

The beacon's message wouldn't reach anyone.

* * *

><p>Halfway across the universe, a tall man stopped in the middle of a sentence and ran off, leaving those he was talking to with their mouths hanging open.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later, John still sat in his workshop, staring at the beacon, idly working on an occasional calculation, trying to justify the delay. Part of him knew he was being silly; why should he expect the Doctor to just appear?

On the other hand, part of him was absolutely positive that if the Doctor got this message, a message that Sarah Jane needed him, that he would absolutely, definitely, positively do whatever it took to get there.

A sudden knock on the door took him away from his daydreaming. "Hey big guy, you in there," Jack called out to him.

"Yeah, Jack, come on in," he said, not looking up.

Jack walked in, pulled up a chair and sat down without waiting to be asked. "Whatcha got there that's got you thinking so hard that you didn't hear me knocking? Looks kinda odd but interesting," he said, pointing to the beacon.

John shook himself out of his stupor. "Hmm? Oh, this," he said. "It's a … er … well, it's a kind of radio. I'm trying to reach an old friend of Sarah's, but he doesn't seem to be answering."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just pick up a phone and call him? I mean, this is cool and all, but is it necessary?"

John thought a bit before answering. He didn't want to tell Jack too much, of course, but he did trust him. "He's … well, he's not anywhere they have phones, you see. He's not reachable that way. But he should have a radio that can pick up this particular … frequency, so I was kind of thinking we'd have heard from him by now, is all."

"And I take it he hasn't answered you yet. Maybe he's deep in some jungle being chased by cannibals," Jack laughed.

John laughed with him, just a little. "Actually, from what I've heard, that might not be all that far off."

"Ooooh, so he's an explorer or something like that, huh? How did SJ meet someone like that and why is she trying to reach him? I mean, I know I'm being way too nosey, but you have to admit, this is really intriguing." Jack looked closer at the beacon and tapped it slightly.

John thought about slapping his hand, but thought better of it. He thought back to when he was first asking about the Doctor, and what Sarah had told him. "Something like that. Sarah used to be his assistant, and she's kind of worried about him. She hasn't heard from him since she came home." He sighed. "I suppose I can't blame you for being interested, I had this very conversation with Sarah when I first got here."

Jack looked all around the beacon. For a moment John thought he almost looked like he knew what he was looking at, but of course that was ridiculous.

"Where's the microphone and receiver for this gadget of yours?" Jack asked. "How can he answer you if you can't talk back and forth?"

For a moment, John didn't have an answer for that. It hadn't occurred to him that he'd have to explain this to anyone. "It's … well, the message is kind of built into it. It's not a sort of 'talk back and forth' kind of thing. It's more of a … beacon. It sends out the message, and then if … I mean, **when** he gets it, he'll know that he should come back here or contact Sarah, or something like that."

Jack shrugged. "Sounds simple enough to me. Hey," he said, turning back to John, the beacon forgotten. "I know Harry's working, but how about talking him into playing hooky and getting a game or something going? I'm free all day and bored out of my mind."

John thought about it, but something just wasn't sitting right with him. "No, I'm sorry, Jack, but I think I'll go check on Sarah. You'll be OK, yeah?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Mind if I just sit here for a little while?"

"Not at all," John said, getting up to head back into the house. The he stuck his head back into the workshop. "Just don't touch anything." 

* * *

><p>Jack watched John walk back into the house, then stared at the beacon. He knew darn well who Sarah's "friend" was. 'I wish you better luck contacting the Doctor than I've had,' he thought.<p>

Jack Harkness had met the Doctor during the London Blitz, almost 110 years before in his own personal timeline, before being abandoned on Satellite 5 in the year 200100, then getting stranded in 1869. Since then he'd basically been biding his time, freelancing for Torchwood and waiting for the Doctor to return to Earth so he could catch up with him once more.

Back in 1899, a fortune teller had told him that he wouldn't see the Doctor again until "the century had turned twice" which made sense; he'd been on Earth with the Doctor in both January 1941 and September 2006. He supposed that if he were to meet up with him again between those two dates, he'd be crossing somebody's timeline somewhere.

In fact, there was a pretty good possibility that even if he wanted to, the Doctor couldn't come back for him during that time. Jack's vortex manipulator (before it had burned out getting him to 1869) was a bit of a brute-force affair; it'd go just about anywhere. A TARDIS was much more selective, detecting potentially dangerous conflicts like that and making sure that they didn't happen.

But that didn't mean that Jack couldn't hope, and that's what he'd been doing since the moment he'd heard from the Torchwood grapevine that the Gallifreyan was finally in custody.

He'd been hoping to be invited in to verify the Doctor's identity, but he and Torchwood head Horace Dewhurst didn't see eye to eye on much; Dewhurst was paranoid about him because he'd travelled with the Doctor.

So that left Jack to find things out on his own. It wasn't difficult to get into Torchwood London; everyone assumed that he was looking for information on his estranged wife, who'd entered the witness protection program to get away from him just weeks before.

But he'd had other purposes. He'd stood outside John Tinker's cell, watching while the poor man begged for mercy, thinking about how angry he still was at the Doctor for leaving him for dead, even after more than a century.

Not that he was any more certain of John's identity than John was.

Dewhurst enjoyed the fact that he had kept Jack from seeing a copy of the sketch of the Doctor Torchwood had from 1879, completely unaware that Jack had seen the original many times, long before the plastic cover that now protected it had even been invented.

He'd recognized Rose of course, but the Doctor himself had looked nothing like the man he'd traveled with. He knew that Time Lords regenerated, so it didn't surprise him. He also knew enough to stay away from the three incarnations of the Doctor who had been associated with UNIT since its founding. They were previous iterations; while he'd been on the TARDIS he'd heard lots of stories about that time.

Stories that included, on many occasions, one particular person special to the Doctor: Sarah Jane Smith.

Rose hadn't noticed it. Maybe she hadn't wanted to. But Jack knew the wistful look of a man who felt that he'd lost someone dear to him.

So nothing about John Tinker surprised him; not his actions during last May's alien invasion, not the tachyon micro-generator he'd had in his pocket when Torchwood had picked him up, not his passing resemblance to his somewhat vague memory of the the even more vague sketch, and certainly not the fact that he'd wound up on Sarah Jane's doorstep.

But John Tinker was completely human, that much was certain. Confusing, but certain. Because while Jack could see a resemblance to what he could only assume was the Tenth Doctor, the sketch wasn't anywhere near good enough for him to be sure.

And now John and Sarah were having a baby.

Which considering his current assignment, left Jack walking a very, **very** thin line.


	8. Chapter 8

Sarah had washed up and come back downstairs to finish dinner. She couldn't stop thinking of the Doctor, however.

She took a pot out of the cupboard and started making the potatoes. What would she do if he just waltzed back into her life and asked her to come back with him? Would she tell him sorry, no? Would she tell him she was having his child?

She'd have to be furious with him at first and let him have it right between the eyes. He had it coming. How dare he drop her off like that and then just expect her to pick up where they left off without an apology or an explanation? She practically threw the chicken into the pan then shook the seasoning, and her rage, onto it. Oh, what a piece of her mind she would give him if he did show up.

But then what? What would happen when the shouting was over and he looked up at her with those huge sad eyes of his?

She couldn't go with him. She loved him, but she loved John too, and John was her husband, she argued with herself.

What if she did manage to find a way to tell him about the baby? She thought about it as she snapped the ends off the green beans. Did she have the right to keep his child from him just because he left her?

He hadn't known about the baby, she reminded herself, because she hadn't told him. What would he have done if she had?

What if he really loved her and had a good reason for leaving her? Maybe he was just trying to protect her from the Gallifreyans. What if he was just waiting till it was safe to come back for her?

What if, what if, that was the whole problem. She snapped the last of the beans with a loud pop.

She didn't hear John when he came in. She was lost in thought and taking her feelings out on the potatoes she was ruthlessly mashing.

"Goodness," John said, "did those potatoes invade Poland, or something?"

Sarah jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh John, I'm so sorry, I was a million miles away and didn't hear you." She leaned over and gave him a long hug. She needed to feel his arms around her.

He obliged her, stopping for a moment to just absorb the sensation of it. "What's wrong, sweetheart? I thought you'd be happy."

"Oh John, I can't stop thinking about what I would do, or say, or feel if I get to see the Doctor again."

John thought about what she was saying. Part of him didn't like the sound of it; how could she not know what she would feel if he came back? On the other hand, he reminded himself, they'd agreed that they would just take it one day at a time, and that if necessary, he would step aside.

But that was when he'd thought that his love for her was unrequited. Now he was just … confused. But it wasn't about him, he reminded himself. It was about Sarah Jane, and what was best for her. "Come on, let's go sit down and talk about it. I think those potatoes have been through enough." He steered her towards the couch. "What is it you're worried is going to happen?"

"For starters, what will I say to him? Hello, nice of you to drop in? I don't think so. The first thing I'll want to do is tear into him for dumping me the way he did."

"And you'd have every right to do that," John said.

"I know him he'll put his head down and then look up at me with those sad eyes of his and try to butter me up, and that simply won't do."

John tried to picture it. "So you're … saying that he won't be able to butter you up. Right?"

"No, this will be one time that he won't be able to get around me like that. The question is, what will I say to him after that? What if you were right all along, John? What if he had a perfectly good reason for leaving me here? What if he was just trying to protect me?" She shrugged in frustration. "Sorry, but you didn't ask me to wait so I got married, and by the way, I'm having your baby."

John took a deep breath and tried not to be too obvious letting it out. He heard her saying that she wouldn't let the Doctor get around her, but he'd been with her long enough to know that she wasn't nearly as certain as she wanted to sound. And maybe there was a good reason he hadn't come back; hadn't John himself been arguing that very point himself for months?

He was beginning to rethink his defense of the Doctor, but it was a little late for that now.

He still felt like this was the right thing, but it was much harder to carry it out when the reality was right in front of him. He leaned back on the couch and pulled her down with him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I suppose," he said, kissing her cheek, "that we're just going to have to wait and find out."

They stayed like that for a while, saying nothing, each lost in their own thoughts and insecurities. Eventually, as he was wont to do, John fell asleep, and Sarah quietly got up and put the food away. They'd eat when she got back from her appointment.

She went upstairs and changed her clothes. Despite the time of year, there was a chill in the air that matched her feelings, so she dressed in her favorite sweater and a pink wool suit. The weatherman had predicted a chance of showers so she quickly snatched up her raincoat and gloves.

When she got downstairs she leaned over and kissed John. "Darling," she woke him softly. "I have to rush, I need to go to that interview I made with Margaret Thatcher. You know, the one who's opposing John Tyndall of the National Front?"

"Be careful," John murmured, "that man's a nutter." He took her hand and kissed it as he rolled over deeper onto the couch.

She headed out the door, slipped into her raincoat and had started walking towards the bus stop when K-9 stopped her.

"Mistress, do not go out."

"What's the matter?"

"Danger, mistress," the metal dog repeated.

"What?"

"I can sense danger, mistress. Telepathic trace. Faint, but rapidly increasing in strength. Do not go out," he said firmly.

Sarah Jane looked around and squatted down to his level. "What kind of danger?"

His sensors whirred. "Positive data not available."

"I can't stay home, you have to give me a reason."

"Negative, Mistress, data analysis shows too many variables. Danger readings now becoming much higher, mistress. Suggestion: take me with you."

"I can't," she laughed. "Honestly, I can't. The car's in dock, so I have to go by bus."

"There is danger, mistress. Sensors indicate is it now extreme. And, the Doctor is involved."

"Now I know you're imagining things. See you later."

"Danger! Doctor! Danger! Mistress!"

Sarah couldn't bear to hear anymore. Her emotions had been through the ringer enough for one day. She had a life with John now, and if the Doctor was involved with whatever K-9 was going on about, she wasn't going to hang around waiting for him to hurt her again.

She broke into a run. She didn't want to stay and wait. What if K-9 was telling her that the Doctor had gotten the beacon's message and was returning? She couldn't deal with it now. She wasn't ready and she was already in danger of being late for her meeting, she thought, trying to distract herself from the issue at hand.

She looked at her watch as she reached the bus stop. She was on time, thank heavens. Perhaps if she just got on the bus and drove away, the Doctor wouldn't find her until she was ready to see him.

But she sensed something wasn't quite right and instinctively, she looked up and saw something strange in the sky coming towards her. She broke into a run, but it was way too fast for her.

A moment later she felt herself being picked up and carried off.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** For those of you who have been raised without benefit of Classic Who, you might want to seek out the 20th anniversary story "The Five Doctors". Or not. :) Also, we're having trouble getting the site to let us answer reviews, but we promise, responses are coming! Thanks as always!

* * *

><p>Cardinal Borusa, Lord High President of Gallifrey, placed the small figure of the human Sarah Jane Smith onto the playing board. Perhaps it was just as well that the miscreant's fourth incarnation had been trapped in the vortex.<p>

He'd hoped to simply show her that the Doctor traveled with a Time Lord now - that he belonged among his own kind, not … consorting with lower life forms.

But now that he thought about it, the Doctor was so erratic that realizing that she was with child - and that he was the father - might have given the game away. Now all he had to do was keep her from speaking to his fifth self.

No matter. None of them would survive this anyway, and his problems would be solved.

* * *

><p>"Open up..." the voice said.<p>

John sat bolt upright on the couch. That voice... he knew that voice.

"I said open up," it said again.

The front door began to rattle, and John ran to it, pushing it closed. "Go away!" he screamed.

"I'm never going to go away," the voice said, as he felt the door begin to push inwards. "I'm going to get in..."

"No!" John shouted, pushing on the door with all his might. He knew that he was dreaming; he'd had this dream before, so many times. "Sarah! Sarah, help me!"

The door began to buckle; he couldn't hold it. "Sarah!" Where was she? She should be here by now, shaking him out of his terror.

"I'm going to get in," the voice said. "You can't stop me..."

The door started to open, and flames shot into the house, searing his skin. He heard himself screaming when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side.

"Wake up, Nobody," he heard another strange voice say, and as the flames dissipated and he clawed himself awake he thought to himself that the couch had become distinctly harder overnight.

"Hey, Nobody, it's Cobby. Common then, wakey wakey. I keep telling you, you can't scream like that, you're waking everybody up," the old homeless man told him.

John opened his eyes and looked around, trying to orient himself. He sat up quickly, realizing he was under a bridge. And cold.

He shivered a little bit, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. "Wait a minute," he said, "what's happened? Where am I? How did I get here?"

Cobby helped him sit up and sighed, as though explaining this was part of their regular routine. "You're at the bridge, with me and the rest of us. It was here or Saint George's, and if you go back there, they'll section you again."

John shivered at the thought of Saint George's homeless shelter. "But … but they didn't section me, Sarah Jane came and got me."

"Sarah Jane? That's a new one. Who's that," he laughed.

"Sarah Jane. My wife. Where is she?" He started to look around for Sarah. He just knew that he needed to find her.

"Your wife," he laughed even harder. "That's rich." Cobby stopped laughing when he saw the look on John's face. "Say, maybe you're really starting to remember something. Is that it, Nobody? Did you have a real memory while you were dreaming just now?"

"A real … wait a minute, what are you talking about? And why do you keep calling me 'Nobody'? My name is John."

"How many times do you have to be told?" Cobby asked, not entirely unkindly. "Don't you remember? You showed up one day at St. George's with no memory, and they sectioned you, along with a bunch of us, and when we got away we took you with us. Up till today you didn't have a name so we all call you Nobody. But hey, if you think your name is John, that's what we'll call you from now on."

John thought back. St. George's had been unwittingly involved in that whole scandal of sending patients to Doctor Linus. They must be why they'd sectioned "a bunch" of people. He shook his head to clear it. It still didn't make sense. "So you and I and a bunch of people were moved from St. George's to a mental hospital, and we escaped."

"Yeah, that's right, but not right away though. You were there for about two weeks when we made our break for it. We took you with us because that special treatment they were giving you was really messing you up. You were always coming back from it bruised up real bad. We figured if we didn't bring you along, you would have died there by now."

John pictured what he was saying and his blood began to run cold. Was he still dreaming? He must be. Sarah hadn't woken him up yet, and Cobby was talking about when he'd been tortured. "Sarah!" he called.

Cobby was trying to calm him down when he saw some men in uniform headed towards them. "Come on then lad, quiet down now and come with me, before you get pinched again for being a vagrant."

"But ..." John tried to absorb what he was saying, but he could see everyone moving off and decided they must know what they're doing. He let Cobby help him up. "Listen, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not a vagrant. I live in South Croyden."

"Right, sure you do, but for now I suggest you get moving or you'll be living behind bars or worse." The man broke into a run. "Go on Nobody, run, if they catch me, I'll just spend the night in the drunk cell," Cobby called out to him. Suddenly one of the men in uniform was chasing the old vagrant and blowing a whistle.

John took off running. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew that he didn't want to be arrested. Not when he had no idea of what was going on.

For a moment he felt like he was back in his other recurring dream, running from … whatever it was. But this felt different. In his dream, he just kept running and running and felt nothing but terror; now, Harry had kept him so quiet these last two months that his legs and lungs began to ache almost immediately, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he raced around a corner and ducked into the first doorway he could find.

Luckily for John, it seemed the officer was much more interested in chasing Cobby. He looked around and realized he was in a coffee shop, panting like he'd been chased by the devil himself.

The other patrons stared at him and he looked down to see that he was much more raggedy than he'd expected, with torn clothes and worn shoes. He reached up and a swipe of his face told him that he hadn't shaved in quite some time; a quick whiff also told him he hadn't showered recently either.

He reached into his pocket to see if he had any money, but there was nothing.

He heard a commotion outside and ducked into the men's room, locking the door behind him, trying to catch his breath. He stared at the mirror; he was thin, gaunt, not at all the way he remembered looking. He tried to distract himself from the fear that any moment someone would come pounding on the door by hurriedly washing his face and hands.

Finally, when he thought that enough time had gone by, he stepped out of the men's room as though nothing was wrong, mumbled "thank you" to anyone who was watching, and went back out into the street.

He looked around and didn't see any police, so he started walking towards the nearest street sign to get his bearings. Despite the nonsense Cobby had mentioned, he still had his memory of being John Tinker, which included the maps he'd memorized.

He finally got to a sign and breathed a sigh of relief. He was only a few miles from home. If he could get to a telephone, he could just call Sarah Jane to come and get him.

'A phone box,' he thought. 'Just have to find a phone box.'


	10. Chapter 10

President Borusa steamed quietly in his ornate council chair. Ultimately, he knew, his plan was foolproof; but that didn't mean the council was going to make it easy. The first part of his course of action was complete; four of the Doctors were here on Gallifrey, and the last was trapped in the vortex. But now the council, concerned about him and unable to find anyone devious enough to succeed, had decided to bring the Master in to help. He had tried everything he could think of to get the council to change its mind, without success. "Involving this person does not please me," he told the them.

But they were unanimous, and that made it possible to overrule him. So there would be one more Time Lord to come into contact with the Doctor's spawn.

One more to eliminate before someone connected the dots.

* * *

><p>Sarah felt herself being dropped down rather bruskly. She got up, brushed herself off and started carefully maneuvering through the smoke and fog that surrounded her, thinking about her reactions before whatever that thing that lifted her up brought her to wherever she was now.<p>

She had been trying to avoid facing the Doctor, trying to convince herself that she wasn't ready to deal with him yet. She shook her head angrily, realizing that she had behaved as badly as the Doctor had. Wasn't she furious with him for running away from his problems and refusing to face them?

No, she told herself, running away just makes the problems worse and hurts people.

Besides, she was John's wife now and the sooner she settled things between herself and the Doctor, the sooner she could go back to her life with her husband. She had no idea where she was, but she was sure that sooner or later the Doctor was bound to show up, and now she was looking forward to seeing him.

She had been maneuvering her way about fairly well until she got distracted by her thoughts and lost her footing. She tumbled down a hill, screaming all the way to the bottom.

She finally came to a halt, hitting her head as she landed in a ravine. Sitting up rubbing her head, she looked around. "Oh, K9, why didn't I listen to you," she moaned.

"Hang on a minute!" she heard from the top of the hill. "Catch hold of this!"

She couldn't see the person who had come to her aid, but she gratefully grabbed at the rope and tied it around her midsection, then used it to climb up.

She began to smile as she got closer to the top of the hill; it was the Doctor, she was sure of it. Maybe the beacon did reach him, and this was the way he chose to answer it.

As she drew closer, she was all prepared to show him that she was no coward. She'd stand straight up to his face and confront him. She'd insist that they clear the air between them. She'd tell him about how she had tried to tell him about the baby before he dumped her, the way he made her feel when he did, and that he didn't even get her back to the right country.

She was practically laughing at the prospect of seeing the Doctor in a matter of seconds. "Oh, I never thought I'd be so pleased to see anyone," she said as she hurried up the rope.

"I think we should come away from the ledge, don't you," the Doctor said, running towards her from Bessie, his yellow roadster, which stood on the alien road as though everything were perfectly normal.

She stopped dead in her tracks. This wasn't HER Doctor, it was the third incarnation of himself, the one she'd known when she first met him. How on earth was she going to confront him and solve things when she couldn't even tell HIM what his future self had done? "Wait a moment," she said, clearly stunned. "It's you!"

"Of course it's me," he said, smiling. "Hello, Sarah Jane."

"No no," she shook her head. This was all wrong, it shouldn't be happening like this. She needed to be with his fourth self. "It's you-you."

"That's right."

"No, you've changed. Remember? You became all …" She pointed to her teeth and then grabbed at her hair. How could she make him understand?

"Teeth and curls?"

"Yes." Now if he would just say 'sorry' and go get his other self...

"Well, maybe I did, but I haven't yet."

"I see. No I don't. Never mind." She was furious now. Why did she end up with this Doctor? Why was it his third self that answered the beacon? It simply wasn't fair. "Yes, well thank you very much for rescuing me, now perhaps you'll explain why I'm here to need rescuing!" He at least owed her that.

"Steady on, Sarah Jane, I'm not exactly here by choice either, you know."

"What exactly are we doing here," she demanded.

"Well, I'll try and explain. Come on, get in the car."

The Doctor took her by the hand and led her to Bessie.

* * *

><p>John found a phone box and stood staring at the phone for a moment, then picked it up and dialed the operator. "Yes, operator, I need to make a collect call." He gave her the number.<p>

A few moments later the operator came back. "I'm sorry sir, that number does not exist."

"What? That's impossible," John said, giving her the number again. "It's my home, I think I know my own number. Could you please check again?"

"Very well sir," she said a bit coldly. A minute later she returned again. "I'm afraid that you have the wrong number sir. I rechecked it and that number does not exist. Do you know the name of the party that you are trying to reach?"

John told himself he must have gotten the number wrong. It had been a trying morning so far; he must just be confused. Forgetting his phone number didn't mean he was crazy. "I'm trying to reach Sarah Jane Smith."

"At what address please?"

"221 Hillview Road, in South Croydon." Silently, he prayed she wasn't going to come back and say …

"Sir, there is no such person living at Hillview Road in South Croydon." He imagined her turning to the operator next to her and spinning her finger by her ear to indicate that she had a nutter on her hands.

John could feel his hands shaking. Not again. "All right, then," he said evenly. "Can you please just connect me with UNIT Headquarters? That's the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce." The Brigadier would sort it out. Of course he would.

"Do you have the number for that organization sir?"

John pinched his eyes together, and gave her the number he had for the Brigadier.

"One moment please while I check that number for you." She sounded irritated, as though she were rolling her eyeballs at the operator by her side. "I'm sorry sir, there is no organization called UNIT, or the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce listed, and that number is not valid either."

"Thank you," John mumbled, and hung up the receiver before sliding down to the floor. There he sat for a moment, hugging his knees. A few months ago, when whoever they were had tried to get to him, it had been personal. At least the world had continued to make sense. Now even British Telecom seemed to be in on the plot to make him think he wasn't who he thought he was.

He took a deep breath and climbed to his feet. He wasn't going to let them win. So they'd dropped him off under a bridge somewhere. It didn't make sense why they would do that, but neither did releasing him by tossing him out of a moving car. He certainly wasn't going to let them defeat him now, when there was so much at stake.

And what about Sarah Jane? Did they have her? He couldn't let himself believe that; it was too horrible. No, he had to believe that she was all right, and worried sick about him. He stepped out of the phone box and headed off towards home. It'd take a couple of hours if he had to walk the whole way, but Sarah was probably already in the car looking for him.

* * *

><p>The Doctor tried not to let his thoughts wander too far as he explained what was going on to Sarah Jane - at least so far as he'd figured out.<p>

He didn't like this. He didn't like any of it at all. Getting called back to Gallifrey was never good; being take out of time itself and brought there by Time Scoop was almost universally bad. To be taken out of time itself and brought to Gallifrey by Time Scoop with a human … that was a great big bowl of crisis with disaster on top.


	11. Chapter 11

At first, the Doctor had thought that he and Sarah had been brought to Gallifrey together, or at least that the Sarah he'd heard screaming down the hillside had been the same Sarah he'd dropped off for lunch with a colleague not 30 minutes earlier.

But he'd realized as soon as he'd gotten close to her that she was a future Sarah Jane, and though he'd tried to stay upbeat, the fact that she was so far in the future that he'd already regenerated was a terrible omen. Any situation that so blatantly crossed timelines was twisting the universe in terrible ways. It wouldn't surprise him if some of his other selves were around somewhere.

But perhaps the most disturbing of all was that they didn't seem to be alone; somewhere, in the back of his mind, he thought he sensed another Time Lord's presence. It was faint, but he was fairly certain that it wasn't another one of his incarnations, and if the Time Lords knew that Sarah Jane was on Gallifrey …

Besides, they had even more pressing problems. He'd realized immediately that they were in Gallifrey's Death Zone, and an icy feeling in the pit of his stomach told him it wasn't a coincidence that he and Sarah Jane had arrived via the Time Scoop.

At least trying to explain it all to Sarah gave them something to talk about while trying to figure out why she was so angry at him.

"It would seem," he said, as they started down the road, "that you and I have been removed from our timestreams and brought here, to Gallifrey, to a place that's not-so-affectionately known as the Death Zone."

"The Death Zone, now that's a charming name for this place, isn't it?" It occurred to her that if she'd been taken out of time, John could be in big trouble. She needed to find a way to get back to him as soon as possible. She glanced around once more. "Then again, there doesn't seem to be anything alive here, does there?"

"No, there isn't, except for us." He slowed down to take a turn without falling off the road. 'Us and that Time Lord I'm sensing,' he thought. "Unfortunately, it's entirely appropriate. In the days before Rassillon, Gallifreyans had terrific powers, but unfortunately they didn't come with a requisite sense of ethics. They made a practice of kidnapping beings from other races and leaving them here to fight each other to the death."

"That's a far cry for the picture you painted for me of a race of peaceful, learned people who only observed other species and refused to get involved with them. Then again, I suppose they only watched while people killed each other on their own planets, so that makes it alright, doesn't it," she said sarcastically.

Sarah closed her eyes and shook her head as she realized that this wasn't the safest place for them to be right now. A dangerous adventure with the wrong Doctor was the last thing she wanted to deal with. She needed to find a way to locate the fourth Doctor if she could and get back home. She couldn't rest easy till she knew John was safe.

The Doctor didn't say anything for a moment. She was right; the Time Lords weren't really the benevolent bunch he'd always tried to paint them as when he talked to her, but that didn't mean that he wanted to admit it, even to himself.

But there was more to it than that. This wasn't his perky, sweet, Sarah Jane. There was a hard edge to her, and he was afraid to think about what might have caused it. He was going to have to get to the bottom of this.

"No, of course it doesn't make it all right," he finally said. "No more than it makes it all right for them to drag us here."

"What worries me, Doctor, is what do the games have to do with us being here?" Sarah thought again about John and what could be happening on Earth, and she knew that it couldn't be good.

* * *

><p>John realized how out of shape he was from taking it easy when it took him four hours to hike back to Hillview Road. When he got there, he was ready to collapse.<p>

He was so relieved to see the house that he refused to even think about the fact that it looked somehow … different. Almost as if the house itself could be sad.

He decided that he was just letting the day's events get to him. He'd go home, kiss his wife, maybe take a hot bath to soothe his aching muscles, and then sleep. A lot.

The door was locked, so he rang the bell. "Sarah Jane! It's me, open up!"

"Whoever you are, you've got the wrong house," Lavinia Smith called out to him from behind the door.

Finally, John thought, a familiar voice. "Lavinia, it's John, open up!"

An angry Lavinia Smith stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She glowered at him. "Look, I don't know what you're about, but I don't know you and I don't wish to be disturbed, so kindly leave or I shall call the police."

John stared at her for a moment. Whoever was behind this had obviously gotten to her as well, erasing her memory of him. "Lavinia, it's John. Your niece Sarah Jane's husband. Please, you have to remember."

"Look you, I don't have a niece named Sarah Jane. My dear brother and his wife died in a car crash in 1956 and they were childless. I suggest you go to the nearest mental institution if you really think that you're related to me. If this is some sort of joke or scam, go away this moment and don't come back."

John staggered back from her doorstep. He knew Lavinia well enough to know that she really believed what she was saying. And if someone was trying to erase any trace of Sarah Jane from history, that meant that she was in danger. "I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Smith," he said. The last thing he needed was for her to call the police before he figured out what was going on.

He hurried back out to the street. Sarah was in trouble, and he had to do something about it. UNIT was too far away, and he certainly wasn't up to hiking again. He looked at the sun.

'By now Harry should be home,' he thought, so he started hitching towards his house.


	12. Chapter 12

It took four tries, but finally John managed to flag down a teenager on a scooter who was willing to give him a lift over to Harry's house. As they were riding, however, he began to get more and more unsettled.

Because of the way he'd originally awoken, he'd been avoiding any signs of police as he hiked back to Hillview Road, and it had seemed as though they were everywhere.

Now, as he clung to the back of the bike and looked around, he began to realize that he wasn't being paranoid; police really did seem to be everywhere. On the other hand, after the way he'd woken up, he'd assumed that the police he saw were looking for him. Now he started to doubt that assumption; as they whizzed by, he saw a policeman demanding that an old woman hand over her identity papers.

When they arrived, John climbed carefully off the scooter and thanked the driver, handing him back his helmet.

"Careful out there," the teenager said, and zipped away.

John started up Harry's walk and scrunched his brow, seeing the burly man standing at the door. There was something suspicious about him; something that made John uneasy. But the man had already locked eyes with him, so he simply smiled, said "Good evening," and rang the buzzer.

"One moment, you, you can't just come waltzing up to the Deputy Director's door and ring the bell like that. Even if you have an appointment, and I doubt very much by the way you're dressed that you do, you'll have to show me your papers and pass the inspection first."

John, who'd been listening less-than-patiently, grimaced. "Listen," he said, "I don't know what you're going on about, but this is my friend Harry's house." Before the man could stop him he banged on the door. "Harry, it's John! It's an emergency, let me in!"

John realized suddenly that the man was some sort of guard as he grabbed John, setting off alarm bells and panic. He was struggling and screaming for Harry when the front door opened.

Harry stood at the door, looking as though he'd just stepped out of the shower after a hard day. "See here," Harry said, looking sternly at the pair of them. "This better be bloody important, whoever you are."

John took a deep breath. Not Harry too. "Harry, it's John. Your best friend!"

"Sorry to say this, mate, but you're barking mad. I don't know you from Adam."

The guards grip tightened. "You want me to take this vagrant in, sir?"

Harry looked closer at John, and seemed to be considering the options. "I don't think he's dangerous, just confused. Maybe you'd best take him in and have him held in my office until he can be examined by one of our psychiatrists."

John had had enough. "Harry, I'm not confused or dangerous, but something's happened! You're not the Deputy Director of anything, you're a doctor at UNIT, you work for Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart!" he shouted as a second and third guard emerged from the house and began to drag him away. "Sarah Jane's in danger," he screamed, that thought overriding everything else. "You've got to believe me!"

Harry squinted at him. "Sorry again," he said, "but I haven't the foggiest as to who this Sarah Jane person is, or Lethbridge-Stewart, or whatever it is that you're going on about." He yawned. "Take him in and see that I'm not disturbed again."

"Yes, sir. I'll call and have him delivered to MI-5 immediately."

Harry nodded and went back inside.

"Right you, you heard the Deputy Director. Now keep still till they arrive to take you in and we won't have to get rough with you."

But John was in no mood for keeping still, no matter how exhausted he was. "Harry!"

Just then Jack Harkness ran up to his side and flashed his most charming smile at the guards. "Oh, thank heavens, you've found him."

"Yes sir, we've found him and we're taking him into custody until we have him sorted out. If you want to claim him, you can do so at MI-5, and make sure you bring all your papers with you."

"That won't be necessary," Jack kept smiling. He pulled out his wallet and showed them a worn slip of paper he carried in it. "This man is my brother, and he's in my care. I can assure you I won't let it happen again."

The two guards looked strangely at the slip of paper and then at each other. Without speaking, they each seemed to decide that it was in their best interest to surrender John to Jack and just fill in the paperwork on their side, rather than start a conflict with him. "Yes sir," they said, they practically bowing to Jack. "We didn't realize he was related to someone in your position. Of course, since everything seems to be in order, you can take him," they said as the passed John over to Jack.

"Thanks, fellas." He turned to John. "Don't ever do that again," he said loudly. "You know you have to take your medication first thing when you wake up," Jack continued as he started to lead him away. "You are never to leave the house without me, John, do you understand?"

John was so relieved that someone knew who he was he just nodded and walked away with Jack. When they were out of earshot, he quietly said, "Please tell me that was just a ruse and you know I'm not crazy."

"Of course I know you're not crazy," Jack said as he opened his car door for John. "I would like an explanation, though. Just what the hell is going on here?"

John let out a huge sigh of relief and exhaustion as he sank down into the leather seats of Jack's car. "Somebody, maybe the same somebody who kidnapped me a couple of months ago, is trying to make me think I'm mad. And much worse than that, I think they may have Sarah Jane. She's missing, and nobody seems to remember that she even exists. **You **remember, her, right?"

"I certainly do. How could I ever forget a woman as beautiful as your wife?" Jack navigated traffic smoothly, somehow managing to avoid any more official entanglements. "However, John, it's not you or Sarah Jane they're after. Whoever is behind this is powerful enough to be able to change history for real, and I'm afraid that it's already started. That's why no one remembers Sarah or you. Several other people, places and events seem to have disappeared or changed as well."

John didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified as they pulled into Jack's driveway. "But … hang about, how do you know they've changed history? And why is it that you and I seem to be the only ones who can see it?"


	13. Chapter 13

"All this was the setting for the games," the Doctor answered, motioning toward the Death Zone all around them. "But old Rassilon put a stop to it in the end. He sealed off the entire zone, and forbade the use of the time scoop. Until now."

"But why don't they just tell us why we're here?" Sarah asked.

The Doctor stopped the car and looked around. He had a number of theories, none of them pleasant. "Because they delight in deviousness," he finally said. "It amuses them, chucking us in the deep end and watching us sink or swim." There was only one way to get to the bottom of this. He stood in his seat.

"Why have we stopped?"

"So I can get my bearings." He scanned the horizon. He'd never been in the Death Zone, but every Time Lord knew the tales from the very beginning of their education at the Academy. Finally, he saw what he was looking for. "There it is. The Tomb of Rassilon. That's where we're going." He wasn't sure why, exactly, but just as in the case of many of the courses of action he followed, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. What's more, if he felt as if going to the tower was the right thing to do, it would probably seem like the right direction to any of his other selves that turned up.

"Look, do you think this is wise, Doctor? Whatever's in that tower, it's got tremendous power. What can we do against it?"

"What I've always done, Sarah Jane. Improvise."

A moment later, Sarah shouted. "Doctor, wait!"

He stopped the car, looking back to see a man in black, wearing a cloak.

"Who's that?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," he said, looking closely. The Time Lord he'd been sensing, no doubt. But as they got closer, his Time Lord senses kicked in. "No, it couldn't be." He put Bessie into reverse and pulled up to the Master as he stood beside the road. Now things were beginning to make sense. "Jehoshaphat, it really is you. Yes, well, I should have known you'd be behind all this."

"Doctor, who is he?" Sarah asked.

"That's my best enemy," the Doctor said. "Likes to be known as the Master, don't you?" But by now he was in a better mood. The Master was certainly dangerous, but at least he was a danger the Doctor understood. And his presence explained why he kept sensing another Time Lord in the vicinity. "My, my, my, but you've changed. Another regeneration?"

"Not exactly."

"I take it you are responsible for us being in the Death Zone?"

"For once, I'm innocent," the Master said, "here at the request of the council to help you. And your other selves," he oozed.

The idea that some of his other selves were in the zone didn't faze him at all; he already expected that given everything else going on. On the other hand, the Doctor didn't know which was more ridiculous: the idea that the Master would help him, or the idea that the Time Lords would have sent him to do so.

He knew they had no love for him, despite their current rapprochement since his defeat of Omega. "You? Sent here by the Time Lords to help me?" Even during his exile, the Time Lords had frequently given him a reprieve in order to defeat the Master. "I've never heard such arrant nonsense."

"I happen to be telling the truth. I carry the seal of the high council."

"Yes, forged, no doubt."

The Master handed the Doctor the small round object. "See for yourself."

"Stolen, then. I'll return it at the first opportunity." The Doctor took the seal and dropped it into his pocket. This business was making him irritable. The Master certainly wasn't a pillar of truthfulness, and he wanted to put some distance between them so that he could figure this all out.

"If you'll only listen," the Master insisted, "I'm here to help you."

"You? Help me? Rubbish. This is some kind of a trap." And the sooner we get out of it the better, the Doctor thought.

"I knew that this was going to be difficult, but I didn't think that even you would be so stupid as to make it impossible."

A laser weapon scorched the air and the Master leapt backwards, barely escaping it.

"I knew it," the Doctor said as he floored the accelerator. "A trap."

Sarah was stunned. "We can't leave him here!"

"You just watch me," the Doctor said, an uncharacteristic coldness in his voice as he steered around more thunderbolts.

Sarah looked at the Master and then back at the Doctor. She had traveled with him for years, but she had never seen him just leave someone in danger like that. Whoever that man was, she was sure that he must be pure evil or the Doctor wouldn't be so eager to abandon him.

She stared at the Doctor while he drove on, lost in thought. She had seen the darker side of the his moods before. More than once he had snapped at her when he was feeling that way. Of course, he never really meant it, but it had hurt her sometimes, especially because he seldom apologized when he was back to his cheerful self.

Living back on Earth for several months now, she had only remembered all the good things about being with him. She'd focused on the wonder and beauty of traveling through time and space, forgetting about all the times she had almost lost her life, been hurt, hungry, cold and terrified.

Now she was beginning to remember all that and she thought about John. John was gentle and only had kind loving words for her. He would do anything just to please her. She asked herself, was it the Doctor she missed most, or the sense of adventure? She was wondering what the fourth Doctor was up to when something suddenly occurred to her.

Sarah grabbed the Doctor by the arm. "Wait a minute, what was that man back there saying about your other selves?"

"Well, Sarah Jane, it appears that some of my other selves are also here, and with this kind of temporal manipulation, I can't say that I'm surprised."

Sarah's heart leapt at his words. That meant there was a chance that she could see and talk to his fourth self. "More of you? Can you tell which ones? Do you know where they are? Let's go see if we can find them, two heads are better than one as they say. Three or so would be even better," she said, unable to hide her enthusiasm. She felt like telling him to floor Bessie, but she knew he wouldn't. In fact, knowing him as she did, she knew he might be inclined to go even slower than he was now.

"I can't tell for certain whether there's even one," he said, a bit taken aback by her attitude. He almost felt jealous of himself. "But if there is, it could be anyone, from either the future or the past."

"Well then, I think the best thing we can do right now is press on, don't you," she smiled sweetly at him.

"Certainly, my dear, certainly. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better, no matter which one of me and my companions we meet up with."

At the mention of companions Sarah's smile dropped. She hadn't thought about that possibility. What she would do if her Doctor had another companion with him? What if the Doctor had replaced her? She wasn't sure she could bear to see him with someone else.

Suddenly she felt herself almost thrown from the car as the Doctor ripped the wheel to the right, just a half-second too late to avoid the thunderbolt that struck in front of them, catching the front of the car.

* * *

><p>Jack coughed and squirmed a bit at John's question about why the two of them recognized that the world had changed. He knew why he remembered how things should be; he was a time traveler. As for John … it certainly did point to Torchwood being right in their assumptions about him. But he didn't want to just blurt that out. He'd let John come to his own conclusions. "All I can say is that things are different than they were yesterday," he answered. "That much I'm sure of. People I know are gone, buildings have vanished. History itself seems to have changed," he waved his arms in frustration. "What do you think is happening?"<p>

John nodded, waiting as Jack unlocked the door. They went inside and he plopped down on the couch, thinking. "So history itself is different, but you and I both remember the way it was." He got a cold shiver down his spine. "I think I know why."

Jack looked over at him with relief. "Great, tell me why and how we can fix it."

"Oh, I have no idea why history is changed," John said quickly. "Believe me, I want to fix it as much as you do. But I may know why you and I remember what it's supposed to be."

Jack dropped down next to him. "Why," he asked, waiting for John to connect the dots. Maybe this wasn't going to be as difficult as he thought.

John pulled on his ear, uncomfortable. "Can I trust you, Jack?"

"Yep, besides, right now, I think I'm the only person who remembers you. So who else can you trust?"

He looked at Jack. "I suppose you have a point." He took a deep breath. "You remember that radio I was showing you?"

"Yeah, the one that you were trying to contact Sarah Jane's friend with." He eyed John with concern now. "What about it?"

"It's … er … well, it's not exactly a radio. Well it is," he said quickly, "but it's not just a radio."

"Define, 'not just a radio'."

"Well, it's … it's a beacon. And …" He squirmed a little. "And it broadcasts across time." He waited for a reaction.

Jack bit his lip. "So, you've been experimenting with time? I'd say that was crazy if I didn't wake up to a different world this morning." Just like the Doctor to screw things up so completely without even realizing it. Jack realized what he'd thought to himself and wondered if he was letting his anger at the Doctor get the best of him. John was edging towards it, but he still hadn't made the leap to understanding who he was - if he really was the Time Lord. And if John wasn't, that beacon may still be Jack's best hope of contacting him. But they still had to deal with the problem at hand. He slapped John's shoulder and snapped his fingers. "Whatever you did, find a way to fix the beacon and reverse all this."

"OK, well first of all, even if it were causing all of this, we couldn't get at it anyway, because it's out in the workshop and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this version of Lavinia Smith had a shotgun by her door. And anyway, I'd be very surprised if the workshop still existed." John tried to calm down. "Look, I'm not saying that the beacon caused this. I can't think of a way that it possibly could have. But I'm thinking about the calculations and it's possible that if whatever event that caused this happened while you and I were near it, we might have been protected by some sort of … temporal bubble that took us out of whatever changes were happening to the time stream. Like being on rock in a river."

So John had an alternate explanation for why he remembered - and it not only made sense, it meant he didn't have to explain his own temporal issues. Jack sighed. The question of whether John was the Doctor remained as open as ever. "Great," he said. "We remember what everyone else has forgotten. What good does it do us if we can't fix the problem?"


	14. Chapter 14

"I don't know," John moped. "I just wish we knew what caused it."

After years as a time agent, Jack was pretty sure of what had happened; his job had been to prevent situations exactly like this one. Still, he knew he couldn't sound all that knowledgeable, or John was going to start asking questions he didn't particularly want to answer. "Hey," he said, "maybe what happened is like a movie I saw once. Someone went back in time and changed just one little thing, and that caused the whole world to change."

Jack got up and started pacing - or rather almost prowling - the front room. "It was just like this, people and things disappeared because something in history changed and threw things out of kilter."

Jack wondered how this could affect things between himself and the Doctor. 'Man', he thought. 'What I wouldn't give for my manipulator right now.' Unless the Doctor showed up he could be stuck here indefinitely. That is, unless he was already here. Maybe a little prodding, Jack thought. "I have no idea how we can fix this if that's what has actually happened. We may have to adjust to all this and start over again with our lives.

"Don't be ridiculous!" John shouted. "We can't just leave things as they are. We have to figure out how to fix this!"

"OK brainiac, what do we do?" Jack shouted back at him.

"I don't know!" John slumped on the couch. "We don't even really know what's going on or how much of this world is what we expect it to be. I mean, there seem to be an awful lot of policemen about, and they're acting like soldiers. What if this is some sort of alternate future where England is a police state?" He thought for a moment. "Hang about, this is your house."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"So how is it that you and I are the only ones who know that something's different, but you are still in your house, and I woke up under a bridge?"

"Well, that's simple, it's because... because... I have no idea why."

John nodded, his mind beginning to turn. "All right, let's analyze this. Why did you move here?"

Jack knew he couldn't give John the whole answer, but a partial answer was still the truth. "Because my wife left me, and I didn't want to rattle around the old place."

"Right. It had nothing to do with Sarah Jane. And Lavinia still lives in her house, too. I, on the other hand, probably would have wound up on the streets if she hadn't rescued me that day. So the world seems to be the world that would be if Sarah Jane didn't exist. Or at the very least, whatever's changed resulted in a world where she doesn't." He sat up. "You said there are other things and people missing."

Jack weighed how much to tell John, and ultimately decided he would find out most of it on his own. "Yes," he said, "but it's much more than that. You're right that it's pretty much a police state out there. Travel in and out of the country is restricted because of dangerous plagues, and the police are checking people looking for aliens."

Jack pulled the curtains aside and looked out the window for a moment. "Everything is out of place from the way I remember it. I went over to see you and Sarah Jane's aunt gave me about the same treatment you must have got. That old lady's living in total fear, but I don't know why. So I came back here and turned on the TV, and believe me, THAT was an eye opener. That's when I realized everything had gone off kilter. I was heading over to Harry's place when I spotted you. You know the rest from there."

John swallowed hard, still several sentences back. "Did you say … aliens?"

Jack nodded. "Aliens, and worse. Apparently there are aliens masquerading as humans, and now everyone has to be identifiable and carry papers to prove they belong here. But it goes much further than that. You've probably been too busy to notice, but there aren't any insects at all, which is probably why there are food shortages. You have to have your papers to pick up your weekly food supply or you can't get any."

Then, of course, there was the big picture, and Jack wasn't sure how much to say about it. Finally he settled on another partial answer. "Like I said, there's places I don't remember and some of the ones I do remember are gone. I have no idea how many people don't exist anymore and who all of them are. I'm telling you everything has gone crazy overnight."

"You can say that again," John said. "We've got to find the epicenter of all this." He stood and swayed, almost passing out.

Jack caught him and lowered him to the couch. "Are you OK? Should I call a doctor?"

"I'm all right, just tired, I guess," John said, leaning forward and trying to get some blood back in his brain. "I think I just stood up too fast."

Jack nodded skeptically. "Have you eaten at all today?"

"No," John shook his head, "and I'm not sure, but I may be starving."

"Well, then, as soon as you can stand up, let's go talk this over in the kitchen. I may have the last dozen eggs on the planet right now and I think we better get rid of them as fast as we can. And then you need to get some sleep."

They headed into the kitchen, and Jack opened his fridge.

"Seems pretty well stocked, Jack." John said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "What is it you do for a living, again?"

Jack laughed. "I used to know what I did up until this morning, but right now I think I may be unemployed."

"Not with a food supply like that, unless you're really a black marketeer."

"Hardly, although with the food I have now, I could go into that line until I run out of supplies. Let's just keep this our secret for now, OK? I'd hate to try and explain all this to the law." He pulled out a pan and placed it on the stove. "Now that I think of it, I think I'm going to stash all the non perishables right after we eat, while you get some sleep. If we ever get the real Harry back he'll have my head if I let you go on the way you look right now."

John couldn't keep himself from yawning. "It has been a long day," he said. "But we've got to figure this out and get Sarah Jane back."

"You're not going to get anybody back if you're in the hospital, or worse," Jack said, expertly cracking six eggs into a bowl and whisking them while the pan heated up.

By the time they'd finished eating, they'd formulated a plan. John would see if he could build something to look for temporal fluctuations, hoping it might lead them to the epicenter of whatever was happening. There was just one flaw in the plan. They'd have to go out for parts, and it was already too late in the day for anything to be open.

"That means," Jack said, "that you get some sleep, and in the morning you can make me a list."

"But I -"

"No arguments," Jack said, pointing to the couch, which he'd already pulled out into a bed.

John grumbled all the way there, but the fact that Jack had to keep him from falling over from exhaustion didn't help his case, and before he could argue, he was asleep.

Jack pulled over a chair and put his feet up, watching John sleep for a while. Until he knew more, he wasn't going to go barging into the hub.

Because from what he'd seen, this version of Torchwood was much more dangerous than he'd expected. And much, much more powerful.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, he had enough of a problem to deal with right here on his couch.


	15. Chapter 15

Jack watched as John slept, trying to figure out just what he felt. He'd seen John asleep once before, and though it was under much different circumstances, he couldn't help but think of it now.

It had been during his kidnapping, just hours after Jack had watched John begging for mercy, and Rainsford had finally let him get some sleep, presumably so Rainsford himself could get some shut-eye. Jack had watched him then, standing in the corridor, still seething with anger.

No matter how much he admired the Doctor, no matter how much he wanted to see him again, Jack couldn't get past one fact: the Doctor had left him for dead. And while he certainly had sympathy for the poor man in front of him, he had to admit that there was, waaaay back in the back of his head, where he kept all of the bits of himself he was ashamed of, a little part of him that was still angry enough to almost justify it.

Then he'd gotten a look at the man's face. Even after everything he'd been through, when he was asleep, John looked … peaceful.

It had made him stop in his tracks; in all the time he'd traveled with the Doctor, he'd never, ever, seen him look peaceful. He had always looked like what he was: a man with the weight of the universe on his shoulders, and the deaths of millions on his soul.

Jack knew what that felt like.

So to see this man lying there, without that burden, could mean only one thing: either he was telling the truth, and he really wasn't the Doctor, or the Doctor had finally found a way to escape his past once and for all.

Either way, Jack had known in that moment that he had to get him out.

Jack stood and made himself a cup of coffee. They'd have a big day tomorrow, he knew, but he wasn't ready to sleep yet. He stirred in the milk, making sure not to clink the spoon against the cup, and stared at John. He didn't look nearly as frail as he had that day, but it still stabbed at him every time Harry warned him about John's health.

It had taken some time for Jack to formulate a rescue plan - wandering into Torchwood under false pretenses was one thing; taking out Torchwood's prized possession was something else - and when he and the rest of the Cardiff team had returned, the situation was very different.

"I'm telling you," he'd heard Fletcher Rainsford say, "this is the only way we're really going to know for certain."

"Well if he is the Doctor, then you could be right. If we push him far enough, he'll start to die and that will trigger him into regenerating. But if you're wrong, all we'll have on our hands is a dead member of U.N.I.T. and I have no wish to be held responsible for that." Dewhurst hesitated for a moment, then decided. "I suppose we could manage to dispose of the body in a way that wouldn't lead back to us. Go ahead and do it, we're running out of time."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Rainsford said. Jack heard him slap Dewhurst on the back. "Which is why I've already taken care of it. I give it thirty minutes. Forty, tops."

Jack had motioned to his team. No time for delicacy. They had to get him out **now**. Fortunately, being Torchwood, they'd known exactly what they were up against. But as he tossed John none-too-gently into the back of the SUV he realized that the second half of his plan - taking John back to Cardiff to try and get to the bottom of things in a reasonable way - was out of the question. John was already looking gray, his breathing labored.

"Change of plan, Billy," he said as they pulled out into traffic. "South Croyden, as fast as you can."

"Jack, are you crazy?" Billy asked, making a fast u-turn.

"He won't last long enough to get to the Hub." He picked up the radio. "Poppy, order me an ambulance for 221 Hillview Road in South Croyden. It needs to be there in …" He looked at his watch. "28 minutes." He turned back to Billy. "And we need to be there in 27."

* * *

><p>As the lightning bolt hit the front of the car, Sarah held onto her side of Bessie for dear life while the Doctor tried to keep the roadster in control.<p>

As soon as he managed to safely stop the car, the Doctor checked to see that Sarah Jane was all right, then climbed out and helped her down. "See what I mean?" he said. "A trap."

Sarah took his hand. "I think we need to get to someplace safe as soon as possible, Doctor."

"I agree," he said. "And the tower seems as good a choice as any."

They continued walking down the road, the Doctor processing everything that was going on, from being back on Gallifrey to the re-emergence of the Master. Something was very, very wrong, and not just because they'd been time-scooped. He just needed to figure out what it was.

First and foremost, the sense of a Time Lord nearby was still nagging at him, even with the Master far out of range. It was one more thing beginning to make him not only nervous, but paranoid.

Something in the back of his head kept bringing him back to Sarah Jane, though he wasn't sure why. Certainly he was glad to see her again, even if he'd just left her less than an hour ago. But there was something... different, and it wasn't just because she was a few years older.

Or maybe it was; she wasn't that much older than she had been, and yet somehow in that time he'd apparently regenerated, which meant he likely didn't have too much more time in this incarnation.

He sighed. There was one bright spot to all this; if he really was about to meet some of his other selves, when all of this was over he would forget everything that had happened.

And that was just as well. It wasn't good for a man to know that he was about to die. He couldn't imagine being in that situation, with the spectre of death always hanging over him. He'd probably go mad, he thought.

With his conscious mind working on that, his subconscious finally figured out what was going on.

Sarah Jane was pregnant.

With a Time Lord.

Of course the notion was completely ludicrous; Time Lords were sterile, reproducing via huge looms controlled by the High Council, not via pregnancy. And certainly not via pregnancy with another species.

He thought back to the Master; it would be just like him to kidnap Sarah Jane and use her as part of one of his nefarious experiments! And poor Sarah Jane, she probably didn't even know what had happened to her. The fiend!

He'd have to break it to her gently. "Sarah Jane," he said, "how are you feeling?"

"On what level, Doctor? Part of me is terrified of course, part of me is naturally quite curious and amazed. This is not at all what I imagined your home to be like. However, another part of me is remembering what it was like to travel with you." Sarah stared at him with accusation in her eyes. "You left me some time ago and never came back for me even though I was sure you would."

The Doctor was taken aback. It wasn't the conversation he'd been expecting to have. "Well, as I haven't actually done that yet, all I can say is that I'm sorry."

"Just sorry? Maybe it's no big deal to you, after all, as far as you're concerned companions are easily replaced aren't they? Me, on the other hand, I felt rejected. You dumped me and then got on with your life as if I never existed." Sarah heard what she was saying, but she couldn't stop herself. She had a lot of pain and anger inside of her and the floodgates were open, no stopping them now.

The Doctor was quiet for a moment. He took her hand and led her over to a large rock, then sat down and turned her to face him. "Sarah Jane, the only reason I can't say more about it is that I haven't actually done it yet, so I have no idea what might have happened. I may get other companions, but that doesn't mean you've been replaced."

"Why not? When you lose one companion, you simply find another one. You know as well as I do that if we run into a future version of yourself, he'll have someone new by his side. Even your fourth self probably has someone by his side by now. I'll bet it didn't take you two weeks after you left me to pick someone up."

The Doctor tried not to wince; he never actively sought a companion, they always seemed to find him. Nevertheless, she was probably right. "I really can't say -"

"Oh yes you can," Sarah Jane interrupted. "You've had plenty of companions before you met me and you'll have dozens more now that I'm gone. The trouble is that none of you has any idea how devastated we feel after you leave. Traveling across the universe with you was everything to me. I was used to it and it made me happy. Then, without any warning, you turned and told me you had to leave me behind. Then in an instant you were gone and I was all alone. You broke my heart, Doctor, and you didn't even know it. Any idea what that can do to a person?"

"I would imagine," he said, still trying to figure out how to tell her that she was carrying an alien baby, "that it would make one hard and bitter."

She paused to consider what he had said. At first, when he had dropped her off, she had been very angry and hurt. But she had stopped feeling that way over the last few months. Why was she acting that way again now? She looked at him and all she saw was sorrow and concern in his eyes. Shocked, Sarah raised her hands up to her mouth. "Oh no, I **am** acting hard and bitter. Doctor, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let all that loose on you. After all, this you has always been so kind to me. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, Sarah Jane, you know I can forgive you anything. The question is, can you forgive me?"

Sarah thought about it. This wasn't the Doctor that had hurt her. "Of course I forgive you. Well, at least this version of you." His fourth self however ... oh, if only she could settle things with him.

"Well, thank you," the Doctor said, taking a deep breath. "Because there's something else you should know."


	16. Chapter 16

The Doctor took Sarah by the hand. "Now, the most important thing to understand is that everything is going to be all right, you don't need to worry."

"I suppose you think I should just go along with whatever you decide to do and leave the worrying to you. Sorry, can't do that."

"Well, I'm afraid that your choices in this matter have already been drastically curtailed," the Doctor said.

"Just why is that, Doctor?"

"Because it seems that I've figured out why you're here," he said. He realized that he'd have to take this gently. There was no telling how she would react. "Other than the time scoop, do you remember anything odd just before you fell down the hill?"

She shook her head then stopped. "No, wait, K-9 did say there was danger and that you might be involved in it. Other than that, nothing."

Now there was something, he thought. "K-9? Who's K-9?"

"He's a little robot dog, a gift from you actually, he's absolutely brilliant."

"A robot dog? That's ridiculous," he said. Perhaps the danger had started before she'd even arrived. "Are you sure it was from me?"

"Well, he said he was from you and he's been nothing but helpful since I got him. He even had a special message for me from you when his box was opened."

"A message from me," he repeated. He reminded himself that he wouldn't remember any of this when all was said and done.

Sarah watched him closely to see what his reaction would be. "He said you told him to give me your fondest love."

"My …" He processed what she was saying. Of course that was something he felt, but to actually send a message like that... "... my, my, my," he continued, trying to cover his reaction. "Right, well, let's just assume for a moment that K-9 isn't part of the problem." He sat her down. "Now this may be hard to handle, but as I said, it's going to be all right. It seems that you've been brought here as part of some sort of experiment."

"Ah, I see, but what kind of experiment, and why me?" Sarah Jane thought about it and was afraid that it might be because of the baby. She didn't like the implications of that at all.

"Well, as for you, I can only assume it's because of your association with me. And as for the experiment itself," he said, scrunching up his face uncomfortably, "you're … er … well, that is to say, the experiment is …" He took a deep breath. "You're pregnant." He waited for her reaction.

Sarah Jane's eyes grew large as she let her breath out in relief and tried her hardest not to giggle. "Pregnant? What makes you say that?"

The Doctor was a bit taken aback by her reaction - or rather her lack of reaction. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she was trying not to giggle. "I'm serious, Sarah Jane, this is no laughing matter."

"Of course it's no,t Doctor. Who said there was anything funny about it?"

"No," he said uneasily, "I suppose you didn't." He decided to leave it alone. Perhaps she was still in shock at the idea, or simply didn't believe it. "Well to answer your question, I've been sensing another Time Lord, and it's not the Master. Time Lords are telepathic, you know, and it's taken a little while for me to figure out what was poking at me, but there it is. As hard is it may be to believe, I can assure you that you, my dear Sarah Jane, are carrying a Gallifreyan child."

Sarah cradled her tummy and rubbed it with affection. "Well I suppose anything is possible, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, but this is a bona-fide miracle," the Doctor said. "Time Lords don't procreate this way, they're sort of grown on looms. The whole process is very tightly controlled by the Council. I imagine someone's trying to get around that to create their own Time Lord, though for the lives of me I can't imagine why. I've seen the Master do some pretty outrageous things, but I can't think of a good reason why even he would do this." He looked quizzically at her. "I was about to reassure you, but you're actually taking this quite well. That's the spirit," he said brightly. "We'll soon get to the bottom of this."

Sarah folded her arms with a slightly smug smile on her face. "No need to, Doctor. I already know who's responsible for this child."

"You do?" He smiled. Good old Sarah Jane, always thinking. "Who?"

"Well Doctor, to use your own words, this may be hard to handle, but I promise you, it's going to be alright." She smiled as she put a reassuring hand on his elbow. "This baby is yours, Doctor."

"Sarah Jane, I hardly think that this is the time for levity."

"I'm not joking, Doctor. I can assure you without hesitation, this baby is yours and mine."

"Well, of course," he said, "it's a Gallifreyan baby, I'm not going to leave you solely responsible for its care, and no matter how this happened, I couldn't imagine you abandoning a child. I'm glad you're taking this so well, but we really do need to figure out what's happened. What if there are more of them out there? And besides, we can't leave you vulnerable to this sort of thing."

"Doctor, look at me," Sarah took his face in her hand and smiled gently. "You are the father of my child. We, you and I, conceived this baby together."

The Doctor heard what she was saying, but it didn't make any sense. "But the council would never allow such a thing. To mix Time Lord DNA and human, it would be anathema. And even if they did, they certainly wouldn't let you incubate the child. The whole thing is ludicrous. If they even knew that you were here on Gallifrey..." He realized that the poor girl must be in shock. "Sarah Jane, I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, but you have to listen to me so we can find the culprit."

"Oh Doctor, you really must listen to me. The Time Lord council has no knowledge of this, well, at least as far as I know. We didn't ask for anyone's permission when this happened. It was something that involved only the two of us and it was, well sort of an impulsive thing, but very special and very real." Sarah could see the confusion in his eyes. She felt sorry for this Doctor. Even if she managed to explain what happened, he'd never really understand it. "Doctor the baby is the result of a physical act of love between you and me."

"A physical …" He sighed. She wasn't making any sense at all. "Sarah Jane, I -"

"Well, when two people love each other very much, they give each other..." That was as far as she could get without laughing. The whole thing was just silly. No use trying to be subtle when he didn't understand. Might as well be blunt about it. The trouble was that at that moment he was looking at her as if he was a child. She decided it would be easier to tell him without looking at him.  
>"Oh for heavens sake Doctor," Sarah said in frustration, and leaned up and whispered in his ear.<p>

The Doctor turned grey, and his eyes practically popped out of his head. "We did what?"

"Exactly what I just said, Doctor." Sarah Jane could only shrug. More than what she had already told him, she wasn't prepared to say. It seemed strange, but what happened between them was very intimate to her and she couldn't tell this version of him about it, even if it was still him.

The Doctor took a moment to absorb what she'd said. It seemed inconceivable to - he stopped himself at his choice of words. What in Rassilon's name was going on in his TARDIS after he'd gone? What sort of irresponsible...

He looked at Sarah Jane. He was certain that none of this was her fault, but now the stakes had been raised, and higher than either of them could possibly have imagined. Perhaps the fact that they were here had nothing to do with this pregnancy, but all it would take was one member of the High Council to find out about this baby, and … well it wasn't going to be pretty. "Yes, well," he said, choosing to avoid the topic for now, "perhaps we should push on." He had a lot to think about.

Sarah followed him as he started walking. He was taking large strides so that meant she'd almost have to run to keep up with him. She would ask him to slow down when she had to, but for now she understood that he needed to sort things out for himself. In her heart, she knew that this wasn't over yet and that she probably wouldn't be lucky enough to get off Gallifrey and go back home without some serious incidents occurring first. She only hoped that she and the baby could get back to John safe and in one piece.

* * *

><p>John slept for so long that Jack was starting to worry about him. He figured he'd give him until breakfast was ready, but just as he was taking a pitcher of syrup out of the radarange he heard John wake with a start.<p>

He looked over and John was sitting up on the couch bed, breathing hard and looking around as though he was trying to orient himself. "Are you OK, John?"

John stared at him for a moment, his brow furrowed. "Yes. No. I mean... I'm as well as I can be right now. We … we have to find Sarah Jane."

Jack saw that he was gradually coming back to himself and breathed a little easier. "That's task number one this morning," he said. "Go wash your face and come have breakfast."


	17. Chapter 17

John rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, trying to drag himself into the present. Setting aside the new clothes Jack had apparently bought for him while he was asleep, he climbed into the shower. He knew he was here, in Jack's house, but he felt like part of him was somewhere else. Somewhere... dark and far away.

All he wanted was to hold Sarah Jane and have her tell him that everything was alright, that none of it mattered. But it did matter, because she and the baby were gone, and he needed to get his head in the game to make things right and find them.

For a moment his self-talk about needing to get to the bottom of what was happening in the world merged with the Brigadier talking about needing to get to the bottom of his kidnapping, asking all sorts of questions about what had happened to him, what his captors had wanted to know. He felt his heart begin to race and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus on the water, turning on the cold full-blast. "I can't do this now," he said. "I can't do this now."

The water wasn't helping, and he forced himself to think of the calculations he would need for the detector he was going to build and the pieces it was made of and where he was going to get them, and not about that fact that he was absolutely positive that if he remembered what had happened he would die.

Finally, shivering and still mumbling "I can't do this now," he felt as if he'd pushed it back. He ran his hand along the tiles of the shower, trying to be fully present, and turned the hot water back on.

* * *

><p>John sat at the kitchen table and tapped his pencil on the paper. "I don't know about this, Jack. I mean, some of these things might be hard to get hold of. I won't know what alternatives, if any, I can use until I see what's out there. I don't know if I can just give you a list."<p>

"Look, we've been over this a dozen times now. I'll go look for parts first. We'll worry about what I can't find or barter for with food supplies when I get back. You have to trust me with this. I have tons of experience taking care of myself in dangerous situations. You don't have any. You just lay low and don't answer the door. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Besides, I have papers and you don't."

"Well … what were those papers you showed to the soldiers over at Harry's?"

Jack sighed and put his head down, trying to decide what to say about the psychic paper. "Actually, I had to fake that. The papers said that you were my brother and I'm legally responsible for you because you're... _non compos mentis_. I'm sorry, it was the best I could do without any time to prepare. I'll try and get you some identity papers while I'm out."

John tried to make sense of everything he was hearing. "You'll try and …" None of this made any sense. Unless... "Jack, I've never really pried into your business before, but seriously, are you some kind of … soldier of fortune, or something?"

Jack laughed again, realizing that in the excitement he'd almost completely forgotten the "good old Jack" image he'd been so carefully cultivating these past months. "Let's just say I'm 'something' and leave it at that, okay, buddy?"

John swallowed hard and nodded, not entirely convinced. What Jack was saying made sense in weird kind of way that matched the weird kind of world they'd found themselves in, but he didn't much like the idea of just sitting around. "While you're gone there aren't going to be hit men coming to your door looking for you or anything, right?"

Now Jack really laughed. "Hey maybe I don't really exist anymore." He gave John a friendly punch to the shoulder. "Relax slim, nothing like that is going to happen. To be safe though, lock the door after I leave and don't answer it for anyone until I get back." He looked at John and saw how concerned he seemed, realizing how vulnerable he really was. "Look, just in case, if you need it, there's a safe room in the basement under the steps. Push on the brick with the chip on it and then stay there if it even sounds like someone is coming in, got it?"

"You have a safe room in your basement?" John was definitely not amused. "Jack, who **are** you?"

"A friend who wants to help you, John. Now let me get going while I still have some time. It's a strange world out there and chances are until we fix things, it's going to get even stranger." He headed for the door, waving at John as he opened it. "Get over here and lock this behind me and don't forget to be as careful as you can be, 'little brother.'"

John watched him go and locked the door behind him. He looked around at the now empty house and even though he was behind closed doors and walls and even curtains, he felt suddenly exposed. He grabbed a box of cookies and a bottle of milk and headed down to the basement for the safe room, beginning to wonder whether he really knew Jack at all.

* * *

><p>Jack was particularly vigilant as he headed towards London. His first priority had been getting his hands on John, so he hadn't done the basic checking he'd wanted to. For example, one major fact needed to be determined: what did he do for a living? More specifically, did Torchwood consider him friend or foe?<p>

It was a task he couldn't begin to risk with John in tow, considering the consequences should something go wrong.

Torchwood still existed in this world; that much was certain. In fact, far from being the secret organization he was used to, it exerted power in all sorts of public ways. As he sat in his car, he watched as two burly thugs wearing Torchwood insignia cornered a young lady and examined her papers, then scanned her. He hadn't seen the device before, but he thought it was pretty safe to assume that they were making sure she was human.

Even the guards at Harry's place had been Torchwood, of that he was certain. Which meant that Torchwood was now more than likely what Dewhurst had always wanted it to be: in charge.

So as he pulled into Canary Wharf and looked at what residents just thought of as the BT Tower, he was uneasy.


	18. Chapter 18

Jack had been uneasy two months ago, too, when he'd executed the second part of his plan after unceremoniously dumping John on Sarah Jane's lawn. But then, at least he'd known what he'd be up against.

So there he had been, just two months earlier, long before the world had turned on its ear, striding into Dewhurst's office as he always had, enjoying the look of annoyance on the Director's face. "Scuttlebutt is you've had a break-in, Horace." He remembered sitting down and not putting his feet up; he didn't want to annoy Dewhurst too much, but if he'd been too accommodating, it would have been suspicious.

"Ah, the intrepid Mister Harkness. How kind of you to honor us with your presence. May I ask if it's official business that brings you here?" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Dewhurst despised Jack Harkness, and wanted none of him. But given what Torchwood knew about him, Dewhurst was also just a little bit afraid of him. Not that he'd ever let on to it in front of the man, but it was always best to be on guard when he was around.

"Actually, Horace, I'd like to do you a favor," Jack said, trying not to smile too much. He really did love to get under Dewhurst's skin.

'Damn the man,' Dewhurst thought. 'He enjoys playing games with me, but he can't win, I'll make sure of that.' "Just what do you have in mind, sir?"

'Here goes nothing,' Jack thought. "Word is that UNIT broke in here and got their man back, and that he is, as we speak, convalescing in preparation for a return home. How would you like a set of Torchwood eyes in the mix when he gets there?"

Dewhurst's eyes narrowed. "Whom did you have in mind?"

"I should think that would be obvious." He started ticking off reasons on his fingers. "One, with Lucia gone, I need to get away from Cardiff for a while. Two, UNIT has no idea that I exist, much less that I work for Torchwood. And three, if John Tinker is going to slip up and show that he's really the Doctor, there is nobody on this planet who is going to catch it faster than I am. Who could be a better choice?"

Dewhurst forgot about being wary, this was too good a prize, and he couldn't pass it up. He pounced on the chance to get to UNIT; it was exactly what he needed to gain more power. Harkness under his thumb was an added bonus that he knew he would enjoy. "Well, I'm willing to give you a chance to prove yourself. I want you to report directly back to me once a week, even if you don't have anything new. And Harkness," he added, "if you make as much as one mistake, you're off the case."

"Of course, Horace, not to worry." Jack stood and offered a hand. "I'll start the machinery in motion. And don't worry, as far as anyone in the office is concerned, I'm just taking a break to get over my divorce."

Dewhurst took his hand and then watched him leave the room. He swung around in his chair with a huge grin on his face.

* * *

><p>Back on Gallifrey, President Borusa watched as the technician adjusted settings, the image of the Doctor's fourth incarnation wavering on the screen. "Is there nothing you can do to retrieve him?"<p>

"Nothing, my Lord President. With the present energy drain, it is beyond our resources."

Of course, Borusa thought. Just keeping the Death Zone active took an enormous amount of energy, but he knew there was more to it than that. So many Doctors in one place... keeping that stable was draining more energy than the technician could possibly imagine. Still, he had to maintain his air of concern.

He considered whether it was worth trying to preserve this incarnation. After all, he was the chief troublemaker; he was also the one who had been inside the Matrix, and had seen, at least on an unconscious level, the knowledge of all departed Time Lords - including Lord High Presidents. He was the reason Borusa's plan was now so urgent. And that meant just one thing. "You use what spare energy you have to stabilize that portion of the vortex in which he is trapped," he told the technician. "It may at least give the remaining Doctors more time."

* * *

><p>Jack's thoughts returned to the present. He remembered that day as if it was yesterday; its familiarity made the current world seem even stranger, and now here he was, trying to decide whether to sneak in or just walk right through the front door.<p>

Part of him wanted to just go for it. He was tired of sneaking around, and just wanted to know what was going on. But this situation was entirely too unstable for his tastes. So he opted for a compromise.

He pulled on a cap and took a map out the glove box, then came through the lobby doors as if he was a tourist.

* * *

><p>"I thought we were going to the tower?" Sarah was more than a bit uncomfortable as she followed the Doctor up a hill.<p>

"We are," he said, leading her at a ninety-degree angle away from the spire.

Sarah Jane was confused; this didn't look like the right direction to her at all. "Then why this way?"

"Because the mountains are between us and the tower."

"Can't find an easier way?"

"No, it would take far too long."

The Doctor stopped short and held a hand out to stop Sarah. Looking down the hill, he saw a group of Cybermen milling around. "So, the Master has used the time scoop to bring others as well as us here." It probably wasn't the last thing he wanted to deal with, but it was pretty close to the bottom of the list. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Sarah trudged after him, but she was curious now about some of the things he had said to her. "Doctor, what did you mean when you said Time Lords don't reproduce that way? I mean, why not?"

"Why not?" he repeated. "Well, it's because of a …" He chuckled. "Actually, it seems a little silly now that I say it out loud. It's because of a curse."

"A curse?" She wasn't sure what she had expected in the way of an answer, but a curse was definitely not it. "What sort of curse?"

"Well you see, Sarah Jane, there's a good reason that Time Lords refer to the period before Rassilon as the Dark Times. It wasn't just barbarism like this," the Doctor said, motioning to the Dead Zone around them. "Early Gallifreyans were a superstitious lot. They believed in magic rather than science, mystery and superstition rather than rationality.

"They were led by the Pythia, a sort of spiritual leader who kept everyone in thrall. When Rassilon and Omega and the Other gave us the means for time travel, Rassilon overthrew the Pythia, and in one last act she cursed the Time Lords with sterility." He climbed up a rock and held a hand out to help Sarah up. "As I said, it sounds silly, perhaps, but in 10 million years, there hasn't been a single Gallifreyan born. They've all been created on the Looms."

"Were you created on a loom too, like some sort of potholder," she teased, trying to picture in her head how someone could be Loomed instead of born.

For a moment, the Doctor almost seemed to sputter. "Sarah Jane, I am **not** a giant potholder!" He took a deep breath. "The Looms are simply how Gallifreyans are created. It's not... literal. Time Lords are Loomed, not born."

"Up until now of course," she said, motioning to her stomach. "This Time Lord's going to be born and he's going to have a navel."

The Doctor recovered, and chuckled at the thought. "Yes, well, all the more reason to get you home as soon as possible. If the High Council finds out about this, there's no telling what they'll do. That baby," he said, pointing to her midsection, "is quite possibly the biggest threat they'll have seen in a long time."

"Trust me Doctor, it may be nice to see you again, but I can't wait to get home." She took the hand he again extended to help her up. "Is it because our son isn't one hundred percent Time Lord?"

He thought about what she was saying. "A son? We're having a son? Are you sure?"

Sarah beamed at him and nodded. "I had a test back on Earth that showed conclusively that he was a boy."

He smiled warmly at the thought of a little baby boy that was all theirs. For just a moment, he allowed himself to think of it, to imagine being there with her when she was holding the baby, perhaps even holding the baby himself. There was a calmness, a stillness to holding a baby, and he thought that it could only be that much more so if the baby was one's own.

Sarah watched the look that came over the Doctor's face. "Would you like to put your hand on my tummy and feel him Doctor?"

The Doctor hesitated. It was just so … intimate, and he'd always hesitated to become intimate with her. But then, he always loved how it felt to put a hand on her cheek and perhaps gently stroke it with his thumb. And this was partly his baby, after all, he reminded himself.

Gently, hesitantly, he put his hand on her belly. The baby was too small to kick, but he could sense him in there, moving, gurgling … being. A moment later the baby sensed him and the Doctor could feel his curiosity, trying to figure out what this new presence in his life was. The Doctor thought his hearts would simply burst as he gently put his other hand on Sarah Jane's head and brought her into their link, the three of them a circle of love and pride and joy.

Sarah looked into the Doctor's eyes with amazement. She quickly realized what a wonderful gift he was giving her. She cried with happiness as she felt their baby being aware of them. She gasped for a moment because the Doctor had let his guard down and she could see what he really felt for her. She closed her eyes and just let all of it wash over her, the baby, the Doctor, her joy, it was all one amazing burst of emotions that she would cherish for the rest of her life. She knew now that she could tell her son that he was loved and wanted by his father if he ever asked her about him.

The Doctor realized how much he'd let her see and quickly reeled himself back in. He didn't know what had happened in his future, but he was still a Time Lord, and that much emotion...

Besides, the reality of their situation began to sink in, and brought him back to her original question. "Yes well," he coughed, composing himself. "I don't think it's so much what the baby is or how it came to be as much as it is how he **DIDN'T** come to be that makes him so dangerous. Gallifreyan society operates on arranged marriages and power. The Council has to approve all applications for looming a child, which puts a tremendous amount of power in the hands of a small number of people who get to decide who has progeny and who doesn't. Just the thought of something disruptive like this would be enough to terrify them. They don't want people to be distracted by thinking about the possibility of getting around the curse."

"Oh, I see." Sarah pretended to be totally focused on what he was saying. She understood that the few moments they had just shared was too much for him, and let him keep his dignity. 'Oh Doctor,' she thought. 'You may never realize it, but you just made it possible for me to return to Earth and lead a happy life with John and our child.' She had the closure she needed, even if she didn't see his Fourth self.

Now she just had to get home. "So then they're really not going to be happy about the fact that we didn't stick to the rules and ended up proving that the curse is pure rubbish. I bet they'd hate to have other Gallifreyans learn about that."

The Doctor stopped and looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. "Rubbish? Are you suggesting that for all this time Time Lords were **not** sterile?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Well, you can't deny that you're looking at living proof that the so-called 'curse' isn't what everyone thinks. Besides, I'm fairly sure that not many of your people would consider trying to have a baby naturally instead of on a loom. They're too stuffy for that sort of thing."

The Doctor looked distinctly uncomfortable at the prospect. He pulled at his collar and stood. "Yes, well, I think we'd better push on."

"Of course," said Sarah Jane, mumbling "coward" under her breath as she followed him.

* * *

><p>Before Jack even entered the Torchwood building, a security guard stopped him. "Papers, sir," he said, staring Jack in the eye.<p>

Jack casually pulled out the psychic paper and held it out for the guard.

The guard scrutinized it carefully. "Your papers seem to be in order, but we do have an elevated security rating today, so I do need to ask where in the building you're going, sir, and if you have an appointment."

Jack flashed his most dazzling smile. "Where do you think?"

The guard softened slightly. "Hmm, well with papers like that, I would assume you're on your way to see Director Dewhurst," he said.

Jack kept smiling. "And right you would be," he said, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. "I'd better get going," he said.

The guard saluted. "Have as pleasant a meeting as possible, sir."

Jack thanked him and headed for the lifts. So far so good.

Punching the floor where he expected to find Dewhurst, he was glad he had the lift to himself. The whole thing had an eerie "deja vu" feeling to it - and not in a good way.

Everything rode on what happened when he stepped out. There was no reason to assume that he wasn't employed by Torchwood, but if this Dewhurst was anything like the one he'd left behind, that didn't mean they were on good terms. He could be walking into the lion's den, but he had to find out where he stood before he could make any other plans.

As the doors opened an attractive blonde picked up her head and gave him an appreciative look. "Good morning, sir, do you have an appointment with the Director?"

Jack recognized Marcie. Oh, did he ever. But she'd never called him 'sir' before. "That's a good question, Marcie, maybe you can tell me. I seem to have lost track of my diary."

"I'm sorry sir, you seem to have me at a disadvantage," she smiled coyly at him. "You seem to know me, but I don't know you." She glanced around cautiously. "Maybe we can rectify that over coffee, I'm on break in about an hour."

'Ooooh, not a good thing,' Jack thought, suddenly feeling like he'd walked straight out of the frying pan and into the fire. Too late to worry about it now, though. "Now that sounds interesting," he smiled, leaning closer to her. "Tell you what, I'm not sure exactly what cover name I used, maybe I could just sneak a little peak at old Horace's calendar, what do you think?" He put on his best bedroom eyes.

Marcie may not have remembered knowing Jack, but at that moment, she knew she wanted to. "Tell you what, you show me your credentials," she smiled, "and I'll show you anything."

Jack kept eye contact with her and pulled out the psychic paper. "I can think of lots of options there, and more than we can we can rectify over coffee."

She looked down at the paper, then slipped a book out of her desk drawer. She placed it in front of her, then slid it towards Jack. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, I have to see if Mr. Dewhurst needs anything before I leave. I think I'll ask him if I can take my break early today." She stood up and wiggled her way into the room behind her.

Jack watched her appreciatively, then turned his attention to the book. This was one office where people would notice him photographing pages with a miniature camera, even if he had one. But he had a pretty good memory for names, and frankly, he wasn't interested in a comprehensive study of Horace Dewhurst's schedule, just whether or not he was on it.

But he got more than he bargained for. Particularly in Dewhurst's 10:15am appointment: MI5 Deputy Director Harry Sullivan.

No time to worry about that right now. Plenty of time to think about it on the way home. He penciled a quick note to Marcie that he'd meet her later - no sense wasting what could become an important contact - and headed for the lift door.

One floor before the door opened, Marcie came out of Dewhurst's office with her boss closely following her. "You," Dewhurst boomed at Jack when he spotted him. "I want you in my office now, Harkness." He pointed to his door and waited.

'Well,' Jack thought, 'that settles that question.' He headed over, still smiling. "Absolutely, boss."

Horace watched Jack step into the room and turned to his secretary. "See that I'm not disturbed unless it's a national emergency." He didn't wait for a response; instead he just slammed the door and stomped over to his desk. "Now Harkness, would you like to tell me where you've been and why you didn't see fit to check in with me while you were AWOL?"

"AWOL?" Jack asked, sitting down and realizing that the chair was at least four inches lower than Dewhurst's. "Who says I was AWOL?"

"Well you weren't here and you never reported to anyone, man, what would you call it?" He pounded his fist on his desk to punctuate his anger.

Jack took a second - but just a second - to answer. He was no stranger to Horace Dewhurst's temper, but there was something different about it now. Something vicious and untempered by the insecurities Jack was used to. "I call it working, Director. It's a dangerous world out there, and correct me if I'm wrong, but our job is to protect humanity from it."

Dewhurst was silent for a moment, looking as if flames were going to shoot out of his eyes as he stared Jack down. Finally he seemed to make a decision. "I'm going to let that behavior of yours go just this once, Harkness, but only because you're valuable to me right now. However, let this serve as your one and only warning. You are never to speak to me in that tone of voice again. I will not tolerate an insubordinate correcting me, is that clear?" Dewhurst fixed him with an almost murderous stare. "More important men than you have found themselves begging on street corners or worse for crossing me."

Jack felt chills down his spine. This was definitely a much more dangerous Horace Dewhurst, and he couldn't afford to be on his bad side right now. "Yes, Director," he said. "My apologies. It's been a rough week."

"Very well, now tell me, were you able to learn anything or was it a wild goose chase after all?"

'Great,' Jack thought. 'Now it's a guessing game.' "Well," he said, "that's why I hadn't reported in. I'm sure there's something to find, but I'll need more time."

"No, what you need, Harkness, is a lead." He dropped a photo on the desk. "It seems our mystery man was spotted yesterday morning in a homeless encampment. Unfortunately, he got away from the agent who located him. That isn't going to happen again, is it."

Jack looked at the photo. It was grainy, but it was definitely a very scruffy-looking John. "No sir, I can assure you that once I find this man, I won't be letting him out of my sight."

"This is our first solid lead on him since he escaped from the hospital. Bring him in quietly if you can, we don't want him harmed until we can question him. That said, take any steps you have to to capture him, as long as it won't keep him from talking. I'm going to question him personally to determine if he's the Doctor or not." For a moment, he seemed to get a faraway look in his eyes, then he turned back to Jack. "And if I can't make him talk, we have someone here who's anxious to finish what he started. And this time he will loosen his tongue."

He spun his chair around and looked out the picture window to the city far below. "And if you see Wentworth, or any other of the Resistance scum with him, feel free to kill them on sight."

Jack nodded. "Of course." He got up to leave.

"I'll give you just four more days. After that you are to report back to me regardless of what you find or don't find. I have another mission for you and I don't want to waste time on this if you're not going to produce any results. You are dismissed for now, Harkness, but I expect to see you back here on time." He flashed Jack a warning glare.

"Yes, sir," Jack said, standing and heading for the door. Then, as if it were an afterthought, he turned back to Dewhurst. "What's this next mission, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Never mind that. Just get out and finish this assignment before I deal with you here and now." Dewhurst walked over to the door and opened it. Ignoring Jack he turned to his secretary. "Once my 10:15 arrives, you may leave for your break, Miss Kent."

"Thank you sir," she smiled sweetly at him. She deliberately didn't look at Jack at all, looking at the clock instead and trying not to appear too disappointed that it was only a few minutes after 10.

"Before you go, make sure you order those wanted posters on that John Doe fellow."

"Yes sir, Director, I'll do that right now, sir."

Jack was about to consider what he would do until Marcie got off for her break - just for the informational opportunities, he reminded himself - when the lift door opened and Harry Sullivan stepped out.

Dewhurst looked up and smiled at him. "Ah, Doctor Sullivan, punctual as always. My secretary will get you whatever you need until I'm ready for you. It won't take long. I'm very anxious to see what you have for me today."

"Of course, Director Dewhurst," Harry said, but the Torchwood Director was already heading back inside his office.

Harry's manner was friendly, but Jack knew him well enough to know he wasn't thrilled to be kept waiting. He was hoping Harry didn't remember him from the previous afternoon when Sullivan extended a hand to him. "Captain Harkness, good to see you again. I hope your brother's feeling better."

Jack shook his hand. "Much better, thanks. Sorry for the disturbance. I'm sure MI5 keeps you pretty busy these days."

"Quite right old fellow, just so. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have a rather important appointment to keep." He headed over to Marcie's desk.

Jack headed out as quickly as he could without seeming like he was in a hurry. His appointment with Marcie would have to wait. Dewhurst was sure to keep Harry waiting until at least 10:30 just to prove that he was in charge. From there, it would probably be just a few minutes before either Dewhurst mentioned the search for John, or Harry mentioned Jack's "brother". Either way, Jack figured he had about 30 minutes to get home and get John out of the house.


	20. Chapter 20

It hadn't taken John long to work out the specifics of the device he thought he'd need to detect the temporal fluctuations, so when he was finished, he'd turned on the television in the safe room and gotten an earful.

As near as he could work out, Europe was suffering from some sort of plague, food was in short supply because of a shortage of insects to pollinate the various plants, and as far as he could tell, there was some issue where everyone had to submit to periodic checks to make sure that they were human. This last bit was the most confusing for him; aliens pretending to be human?

More than that, though, the idea of someone examining him, trying to see if he were human... it made his skin crawl. His thoughts moved to how tired he was of people trying to get him to remember what had happened to him while he'd been kidnapped. He couldn't remember, why couldn't people just accept that?

He realized what he was thinking and tried to figure out why. What had triggered it? Early on, when he'd worked with Doctor Jacquith, they'd talked about identifying triggers, or situations that made him … anxious. He didn't know what had made him think about it, but it occurred to him, not for the first time, that people had been trying to get him to remember things for … well, as long as he could remember anything.

Which was odd, because he'd never gotten upset at people trying to get him to remember the life he'd forgotten before he met Sarah Jane, and certainly that was more important than just a few days of unpleasantness.

Wasn't it?

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it now. Wasn't going to think about it now. Couldn't think about it now.

He looked around the room to see if he could find something to keep him occupied. The safe room was small, but comfortable, with a pull-out couch much like the one upstairs and a television. It also had its own refrigerator (where he'd stashed the milk) and stove.

And boxes everywhere, stocked, he assumed, with food. One was open and he peeked inside - then stepped back quickly. Not food.

Ammunition.

He'd noticed the tall cabinet near the door, but hadn't thought much about it until now, when he opened the doors to find three shotguns and three high-powered rifles, complete with scopes.

* * *

><p>Jack made it home in record time, and didn't bother closing the outer garage door. Pulling out his keys, he flung the inside garage door open, bypassing the bolted front passageway. He reminded himself to try and seem calm. "John? Hey big guy, I'm back."<p>

His stomach dropped. He didn't see John anywhere. "Where are you?" he called. He looked around and cautiously stepped inside. "John? I'd be very happy right now if you just answered me." He walked over to the stairs and called up to him, but there was no answer. Now he headed to the safe room in a run, praying that he was there. "John, it's me, Jack, are you in there?" he banged on the locked door.

* * *

><p>John practically jumped out of his skin when he heard the pounding on the door. It took a moment for him to register Jack's voice. "Yes, I'm down here, you said to lock the door," he called.<p>

Jack laughed with relief. "Well open it now please, but hurry up about it." He quickly opened a wall safe, grabbing wads of bills he had for emergencies and stuffing them into his pockets.

John opened the door, still contemplating what he'd found, but trying to be practical. "Did you get everything? Is everything alright? You don't have any bags, couldn't find anything?"

"Let's just say I found out a few things." He took John by the shoulders and looked him over. "Listen, did anyone come to the house? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," John said. "A little … concerned, but I'm fine, why? What did you find out?"

"Well, if nothing happened what are you locked in down here for?"

John stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, you never can tell, can you?"

Jack shook his head. "Come on, let's get going," he said as John gathered up his plans. Jack opened the gun cabinet and pulled out one of each.

"What are you doing?" John asked.

"Taking some protection with us. The world's a dangerous place these days John, or haven't you heard? Grab that box there will you?" He motioned for John to pick up the box full of ammo.

John stared at him for a moment. "You are not taking those with you."

"Funny, cause it looks to me like I am. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes, I do," John said. "If we get pulled over with those things in the back seat, we're going to get killed. Those people out there," he said, waving towards the street, "are not fooling around."

Jack looked at his watch. Thirty-two minutes. "John, if we get pulled over, we have bigger problems than guns in the back seat, now move it."

John felt the tension rising in his body, and finally sat down on the couch and crossed his arms, shaking slightly. "If you're taking those things, I'm not going with you."

Jack really wanted to take the guns, but he knew that arguing with John about it would only agitate him more than he already was. He thought about what could happen if John's heart started to act up right now and opted to leave the guns behind rather than chance a trip to Casualty that would involve a lot of explaining. "All right John, you win. I think it's a big mistake not to take the guns, but there's no time to argue, we still need to get out of here in a big hurry." He put the guns back. "Common, let's go," he said, practically running out of the saferoom with John in tow.

Jack led John out of the house and into the garage. "Hop in, we can talk while we drive." He looked around, no sight of anyone, but he wasn't about to relax just yet. "Hurry John."

John quickly got in on the passenger side and closed the car door. "All right, I'm here. Now what is going on? Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure yet, but we won't be able to go back to the house for a while. Probably not till we get things straightened out." He flashed John a reassuring smile. "Hey, we have plenty of money for now, so don't worry, we'll be fine."

"Plenty of … Jack, all those guns … did you rob a bank while you were gone? Is that why we're on the run?" He hung on to the door handle as Jack took the turn at the end of the street way too fast. "Heavens, we **are**on the run, aren't we. What did you do?"

"For your information, my friend, I'm innocent for once. I swear it. This time it's..." He looked at John's face, still flushed from the adrenaline of their argument over the guns. There was no way he could tell him the truth about Torchwood, and how the organization that had tortured him was now running the whole show. He'd been through so much before the wedding and now, his wife and his unborn child had disappeared without a trace. John looked so lost without her, even as he held on for dear life at Jack's driving, and they didn't even know if he would ever see her again.

Jack was sure his heart couldn't take any more. In fact, they needed to go someplace safe and quiet and lay low for a while, and he needed an explanation John could accept. "I can't lie to you, buddy. I am on the run. I didn't rob a bank exactly, but I had to go through some pretty sticky legal hoops to make sure we're going to be able to fix things up. Sorry," he shrugged. "There just wasn't enough time to go through the proper channels as they say."

John listened. "When this is all over," he finally said, "you and I are going to talk." He stared out the window for a few more moments. "So where are we going?" he finally asked.

'I wish I knew,' Jack thought. "Someplace off the beaten path that's quiet and where no one is likely to ask too many questions. With any luck, it'll have a pool, too."

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane looked around as she and the Doctor continued climbing and walking. How ironic it all was, she mused to herself. She was finally on Gallifrey. Not quite the way she had wanted to be, and definitely not how she pictured it. She was reasonably certain that this was not a true representation of the planet. This part of it was dark and arid, with no homes, plant life or people anywhere to be seen. She wondered how the Doctor felt to be back home again. She shrugged, better not to say anything to him at this point.<p>

The Doctor, meanwhile, was lost in his own thoughts. Sarah Jane was having a child. How could that be? And him the father!

He surreptitiously watched her walking along with him, wondering at the tiny life she carried. What sort of future would he or she have? He realized with a pang of sadness that this time with her may be the only time in which he ever knew about it.

Perhaps it would be time enough to make up for a few things.

Of course, he'd have to be careful; Sarah Jane - or at least, his Sarah Jane - was too fiercely independent to be "taken care of" by a man. Any man. It had always been a balancing act trying to protect her without making her feel smothered. Now that there was a baby involved, it was going to be even harder.

Because the stakes were oh so much higher, and there was oh so much more to worry about.

For one thing, as they climbed through a seemingly endless landscape of shifting shale, he began to wonder whether the Master had actually been responsible after all. If he had, the Master would have brought his Sarah Jane, not a future version - unless he knew about the baby, and it hardly seemed like something he would keep under wraps.

No, something else was going on. Something even more ominous, and as they seemed to get deeper and deeper into the sea of shale, the walls seemed to be rising higher around them and he began to feel as though perhaps he'd made the wrong choice.

Finally he helped Sarah Jane up onto yet another ledge and they found themselves staring at the bottom of a cliff wall.

Even though the Doctor was helping her, Sarah Jane was tired from climbing. "It's a dead end." She said, getting frustrated.

Looking around, he was afraid she was right. But he couldn't give up, not when it was this important. They needed a way to get past the ridge. He looked up and saw just what they needed. "No it's not, look."

"I can't go along there! I get vertigo!" At this point she was ready to cheerfully take his head off. Did he think she was a mountain goat? Obviously, the Doctor knew absolutely nothing about pregnant women.

"Yes, well, I'll help you." He felt for her, he really did. He didn't exactly relish the idea of climbing along the ledge with her. They'd been in spots like that before, and Sarah Jane and heights mixed like fire and gasoline. But there wasn't any other way. "Besides," he said, "we can't go back."

"Why not? We've shaken the Cybermen off." Along with forgetting about the dangers of travelling with the Doctor, she also seemed to have forgotten how truly exasperating he could be at times.

"They don't get tired, that's why. And they never give up." But even as he said it, his senses went on alert. He was sure he'd seen something moving at the foot of the cliff.

"Yes, I remember." How could she ever forget the cybermen? Her neck hurt just at the thought of them. Sarah Jane unconsciously rubbed her neck and considered what would happen if they caught up with her and the Doctor. "OK, well let's go then!" She stomped forward, creating new insulting names for the Doctor with each step. No-one but him would chose to travel straight up a treacherous mountain side with a woman in her condition instead of simply walking around it. No, not him, that was too easy and where was the fun in playing it safe? Neither she nor her baby should have been exposed to this kind of danger, but here they were and though she would never admit it, not even to herself, they needed the Doctor's protection. "If I don't fall off that path I'll probably die of fright."

He saw it again, and now he knew what it was. "Wait!" he hissed.

"What is it?" 'Honestly,' she thought to herself. 'If he says we have to turn around and go back or climb the rest of the way backwards or on our hands and knees, or some other silly ritual, I'll garrote him.'

The Doctor ran to her and took her arm. "A Raston warrior robot." He pointed at the silver humanoid figure standing before the mouth of a cave. "The most perfect killing machine ever devised."

She looked over at it. It didn't look very dangerous, just another shiny robot. "It isn't armed."

The Raston Warrior pointed at them and a meter-long spear flew from its fingers, spearing the ground between them.

The Doctor grabbed Sarah Jane by the shoulders. "Quick! Over there!" He forcibly steered her behind an outcropping, then stopped, realizing it was staring at them. "Their armaments are built in. Their sensors detect movement. Any movement."

"Anything else I shouldn't know," Sarah asked, preparing for the worst.

'Plenty,' he thought, 'and a few things I don't want to know either.' "Yes. They move like lightning."

The Warrior leapt into the air and disappeared. Tentatively, the Doctor began to get to his feet, but an instant later he heard it reappear off to the left. He felt Sarah jump as it disappeared and reappeared again.

"What's it doing?" She didn't like this one bit.

"Playing with us." Down the hill, he could see the Cybermen approaching. The Raston Warrior saw them too, and leapt again, taking a more aggressive posture. Now that it was faced with a more seemingly dangerous foe, playtime was over. "Freeze, Sarah Jane. If you move, we're dead."


	21. Chapter 21

Jack wasn't quite sure where they were going, he just knew that they needed to get away from his house.

He'd considered his options all the way home; he couldn't go to Cardiff; the Torchwood 3 team would probably at least take the time to hear him out before turning him over to London. But the "probably" worried him, and he didn't want to put them in that position.

He thought about crossing over to France, but between the police state in England and the plague across the channel, the likely level of security made that idea a non-starter.

So he thought he'd head north. At least that way it'd be a while before they found themselves staring at a large body of water, and he was bound to be able to find somebody he could at least attempt to trust.

"Jack," John said when they were finally on the road and Jack's driving seemed to even out. "Did you find out anything about what might have caused this?"

"To be completely honest with you, I just don't know. I do know though that whatever it is, it's serious. As serious as a heart a-" Jack stopped himself from finishing his sentence. "Let's just leave it at serious, OK?"

Pensive, John chose to ignore the reference. "Aliens," he said. "Can you believe that?"

"Right now, I could believe anything. Like the old saying, buddy, 'The whole world's gone crazy except for you and me.'"

"And sometimes I wonder about you," they said in unison.

John sighed, watching the road go by. This was just the kind of thing the Doctor used to handle. Too bad he wasn't … "Jack, I have an idea."

"Great, because we could use a really good one right about now. Whattaya got?"

"I think I might know what's happened, but I don't want to say anything until I know for sure. Can you get up to Goodge Street? There's an underground station there."

"The one by Tottenham Court Road?" Jack had feeling that he knew what was on John's mind.

"Yes, that's the one. Or really, any station on the Northern Line. We haven't passed Clapham South yet. If I'm right, it won't matter what station."

Now Jack was sure he knew what John was up to. "You got it, all we have to do is turn right up there at the light and go straight. That road runs parallel to the underground."

They looked up ahead and the light and saw the traffic had slowed. In fact, it had stopped.

"Damn," he said under his breath.

"What?" John asked. "The traffic?"

"It looks like there's a checkpoint up ahead. Hold on tight." Someone with less experience might have panicked, but Jack didn't bother trying to floor the car and just race by. Instead, he casually - but quickly - veered off through Wimbledon Common hoping that since there were about ten or so cars ahead of them, no one would notice. Just the same, he was ready for a chase if they did.

Just as they were about to leave the road, John grabbed his arm. "Jack wait! That's Harry up there!"

Jack didn't bother to glance back to see. He was in full damage-control mode now, and in no mood for arguing. "I don't care if it's the Queen. You need to learn one thing right now John, the way things are in this world, we can't trust anybody but each other."

John, meanwhile, felt like things were tumbling even more out of control. "But Jack, Harry is our best friend, he can help us! I'm sure he'll listen to reason."

Jack thought about the best way to explain this to John. He'd been trying to keep him calm up to now, but they were running out of options. "I'm sorry, John, but there's just no way to sugar coat this for you. In this reality Harry is the Deputy Director of MI5, and he's involved with an organization known as Torchwood."

He stole a glance at John, to see how he was taking it, but he looked more confused than anything else. "They're the ones who are running things," he explained. "They're in charge of everything right now. Their director is power-mad and he's calling all the shots. If they get our hands on us, life is going to get very ugly."

"Torchwood …" John blanched. "Jack, those are the people who kidnapped me." But it wasn't the political situation that confused him. "Harry couldn't... he wouldn't …"

"I'm sorry,"Jack said, "but we can't afford to chance it. He can't be trusted. In fact, I can tell you with absolute certainty, that he's the reason we're on the run right now."

"What? Why?" He tried to wrap his head around everything. "Is this like that Star Trek episode where everything was all turned upside down and Kirk and Spock were evil versions of themselves?"

"That was a science fiction story, this is the real thing. There's no guarantees of a happy ending when you're faced with reality, buddy. Look, you know as well as I do that right now life is not the way it was. We may be the only two sane people left on this planet. All we can rely on is each other, got that?"

John nodded carefully.

"Good because both of our lives depend on it." Jack felt far enough away to try and head back to the main road. He veered the car towards the highway and gunned it. In no time they were on their way to the tube station he was praying would still be up and running.

Twenty minutes later, they parked Jack's car on a side street and Jack reached into the glove box to pull out a bundle wrapped in cloth.

John didn't miss it. "Jack," he said suspiciously, "what is that?"

Jack unwrapped the gun and checked to make sure it was loaded. "I always keep one in the car," he said as he snapped the magazine back into place. "I left the ones you didn't want me to take at home, but look out there," he said. "Just look."

John looked at the bleak, gray, scared world around them.

"Do you really think we can afford to be caught without protection?" He stuck the weapon in his belt. "Sorry big guy."

John was quiet for a moment. "If Sarah Jane were here," he finally said, "she'd say something about you Americans and your guns."

"I hate to break this to you John, but Sarah Jane is the reason I'm carrying this gun right now." He climbed out of the car, then leaned back in to finish what he was saying. "We've got to save her and the rest of the world and if we're captured and or killed because we were caught without a way to defend ourselves, then we can't help anyone."

John sighed and got out of the car. "What are you going to do," he hissed as they walked as fast as they could without looking suspicious, "shoot somebody? Anybody who really wants us isn't going to be scared off by that thing, you're going to have to actually fire it. And why would they want us, anyway?"

But before Jack could answer they caught a glimpse of a huge cadre of guards stationed outside the Underground, and Jack pulled them both back into an alleyway.

John felt his heart pounding. "Jack, we're in bigger trouble than we thought."

Jack's heart sank to his heels. He knew what was coming, but he took a deep breath and played innocent. "Why is that, John?"

"Those guards aren't just looking for people out here. They're keeping people out. And … and they're keeping something else in." He waited for a reaction.

Jack didn't need to fake a concerned expression, he already knew what was down there, so now he was focused on finding out something else - something perhaps more important. "Do you know what it is, John?" he asked, not wanting to push, but dying to find out just how much John Tinker knew about this particular incident.

"I'm trying to remember exactly. Some sort of web thing that was growing. But it shouldn't be there now. About 10 years ago, it … er … well, it wound up in there, and Sarah's friend, the Doctor, he got rid of it."

Jack could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "How do you know that John, did Sarah Jane tell you about it?"

"Not exactly," John hedged. He didn't want to tell Jack anything that was sensitive - even in this world, he had his loyalty - but he had to tell him something. "You know that sometimes I go in and do some work for this UN organization, right?"

Jack nodded. So close... "Right, but why would you know about **this**?"

John decided he'd have to tell Jack as much as he could without crossing the line. UNIT itself isn't a secret, he told himself. "It's not just the UN, Jack. It's called the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, and it was formed after the Brigadier encountered the Doctor in that very tube station," he said, pointing around the corner. "Everyone at UNIT knows about it."

'Damn,' Jack thought. 'Another lost opportunity.' He took a deep breath. "Wow, ok, well we're here and chances are that thing that the Doctor got rid of back then is still there. I don't like the implications of that at all. What do you make of it, John," Jack tried to be patient, and not give away just how desperately he wanted to punch a hole in something at that moment.

"I think..." John hesitated. This was going to be difficult to explain, but he had to believe that it was all going to be straightened out, and then he didn't want to deal with the ramifications of having told Jack everything. "I think that something's happened to the Doctor," he finally said. "Something that's … that's taken him out of time, so that he never existed. That explains all of these weird things, like aliens masquerading as people. These must have all been things that the Doctor took care of. And whatever it is that's taken him out of time, it may have taken Sarah Jane as well."

Jack sighed, knowing that the moment was lost. He rubbed his hand over his face. "OK, so the Doctor is gone," Jack said. 'I'm used to that,' he thought. "Any ideas on how we can fix this?"

"I don't know if we **can** fix it," John said. "Anything this powerful isn't likely to have originated here. But I think we've got to try. The big question is, what do we do now?"

"A very good question," Harry said, stepping around the corner and pointing a pistol at them, "don't you think?"


	22. Chapter 22

Sarah felt her calves starting to cramp from the effort of staying still so the Raston Warrior wouldn't detect her and the Doctor. "Doctor, I don't think I can take much more of this."

"Hang on, Sarah Jane, hang on," the Doctor said, staring down the hillside at the troop of silver Cybermen as they approached. "I think we've got one hope."

The Raston Warrior robot began its assault on the Cybermen before they even realized it was there. For a moment, Sarah and the Doctor peeked around the corner to see what was happening, hoping that it had been sufficiently distracted.

Realizing that the cave was their only hope of evading both the Raston and the Cybermen, the Doctor waited not-so-patiently for what seemed like an eternity until the robot disappeared again, re-appearing behind its cyborg foes.

"Run, now!" he said, practically dragging her into the cave. When they were out of sight of the opening, he took stock of both the situation and what he'd found on the walls of the cavern. "Look at this, Sarah Jane," he said. "The robot's extra arrows. At least we'll have something to fight with." He handed the arrows and a coil of cable to Sarah, then took another cable himself, looking to see what else the robot's handlers might have left behind for maintenance purposes. "These may come in handy."

If this truly was just a cave, they were good and trapped, no matter who won the battle outside. But he knew from his childhood that Gallifreyan mountains - if you could call the tall rocky hills that - often had passageways through them. Instead of going over the mountain, perhaps they could go through it. He drew a small torch from his pocket and guided her down into the tunnels and they walked quietly, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

"Doctor," Sarah finally said, breaking the silence around them, "you haven't said anything about how you really feel about us in the future and the baby. You're not angry with me about it, are you?"

"Certainly not, Sarah Jane. For one thing, it's not solely your responsibility, now is it."

"No it's not," Sarah shook her head.

"And for another … well, if I'm perfectly honest, I'd have to say that I'm glad things must have worked out, at least in some respects. It's certainly a better end than I would have come to here," he said, picking his way through the dark towards a sliver of light in the distance.

Sarah noticed that he had been more talkative about his past then he ever was when they traveled together. Maybe it was because he was on his home planet and the memories were flooding back to him. She decided to try and get him to talk about it to her. "Doctor, haven't you ever cared about someone in your past? You never talked much about it to me before."

The Doctor sighed. Being home always brought back so much to him, even if he didn't want to admit it. "I'm afraid, Sarah Jane, that that's just not how a 'proper' Gallifreyan behaves. Much too messy," he said, turning to smile at her. "Not that I didn't have my brush with fatherhood, though."

Sarah Jane turned and looked at him with surprise. "You and someone else had a child together?" She looked as if her whole world had just collapsed.

The Doctor realized that perhaps he'd been a little less tactful than he'd meant to. "Sarah Jane, it's not as though I had any active part in it."

"I don't understand that at all. How could you not have an active part in conceiving your child?"

He sighed. "I'm sure you'll find it hard to believe, but I was a bit of a rebellious child and - "

"Rebellious or not, Doctor, you grew up and fathered a child. You can't really tell me you weren't involved in that. Don't forget after all, I am having your child. I'm not **that** naive about these things."

"Sarah Jane," he said, stopping to pick his way around an outcropping and guiding Sarah as he went, "remember, Gallifreyan children are produced on looms. It's not as though I had to be there."

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. "Are you telling me you had a child and you weren't even there? That doesn't sound like you at all, Doctor."

"No, it's not like me at all," he said. He took a deep breath. It wasn't a story he'd been planning on telling, but now he felt as if he owed it to her somehow. "I was a rebellious child, and I was always getting into trouble. When I got old enough, I left my House and went to work as a Scrutationary Archivist for the Bureau of Possible Events, but my sympathies for interventionist groups and … well, let's just say my 'natural tendencies' got me into trouble, and I was arrested for malfeasance."

"Arrested for malfeasance, you? I knew the Time Lords were a pompous lot, but what sort of terrible thing did you do to get arrested for that? Wait, don't tell me, you were caught carrying a sign that said, 'I like people with emotions'."

The Doctor chuckled despite himself. "No, it was a bit more serious than that. I was supposed to be simply observing Earth, but I'm afraid I couldn't help myself. I think it was penicillin that was the final straw, so to speak." As soon as he'd said it, he was sorry. There was no way she was going to let that go.

"Penicillin," she shrugged. "What about it?"

"It wasn't supposed to be discovered for another century or so."

Sarah nodded her head as she realized what had happened. "Ah, I see and you helped to get it discovered sooner. Well what's wrong with that? You helped save a lot of people's lives."

The Doctor debated simply agreeing with her. It would have been simpler than the truth. "That's true," he said. But then, she was carrying his child - a Time Lord child. She had to understand the responsibility that came with the opportunities that implied. "But some of those people who lived carried a gene that went on to mutate into susceptibility to the Farconian Plague in the 48th century. Almost half the population of Earth was wiped out because I gave Alexander Fleming a piece of moldy cantaloupe." He continued walking, not wanting to look at her - or rather, for her to look at him. He didn't bear guilt easily; mostly he tried to forget. Perhaps if they moved a little faster down the tunnel...

She rubbed his shoulder to comfort him. "Oh Doctor, how awful, but you didn't mean to hurt anyone, I'm sure of that. You were just trying to help. Besides, maybe it was meant to happen and you were just the means to it all."

He smiled gently. How typical of her to always try to see the best in people. He didn't push the issue. "Yes, well, the Council didn't see it that way, and I was arrested and convicted. My interference got me a second malfeasance conviction with much more serious consequences not too long ago, but in some ways I think this first punishment was even worse. My family disinherited me."

"But you've helped the Gallifreyans so many times, you'd think they'd forgive you for everything. Your family should be proud of you by now. Maybe if you'd try to talk to them, you'd see they've changed their minds towards you."

"They gave me a chance to redeem myself, Sarah Jane, that's what I'm trying to tell you. They made it very clear that all would be forgiven if I simply got married and settled down."


	23. Chapter 23

"Oh." Sarah's shoulders dropped. "Well, you gave them what they wanted then, didn't you? I had no idea I was travelling all this time with a married man." A thought suddenly occurred to her: maybe the Doctor didn't come back to get her when he left her on Earth because he decided to stay with his wife and family when he went back home.

The fact that she could have been just a fling wounded her more deeply than she ever thought possible. "Congratulations on your family, Doctor, sorry it's a bit late but I had no way of knowing before now that you had one," she managed get out before she turned her back to him and started walking away, grateful for the darkness surrounding them.

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor snapped, taking her arm and turning her so he could see her face - and she could see his. "I most certainly did not give them what they wanted. I had no intention of being blackmailed into anything, least of all into getting married." He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "So I stole the TARDIS and I left Gallifrey, supposedly for good. I thought that was the end of it."

"But you said it yourself, you have a child here and I'm sure you must have married his or her mother." She practically spat the words at him. 'Better to be angry than to cry.' she thought.

"I said I **thought** that was the end of it. Instead my family went ahead and married me to her in absentia. They thought I'd have to return, and I thought that if I didn't, she would have no choice but to have me annulled. For a while there, it was a test of wills."

"And the child," she turned to glare at him. "How did you manage that in absentia?"

"Like every other Time Lord, my DNA is on file," he glared back at her. "My family is rather... influential, and they decided to up the ante by having a child loomed. In the meantime, I decided to be as deliberately ridiculous as possible so that it was more embarrassing to be married to me than it was to have me annulled." He shook his head. "You wouldn't believe some of the things I did."

"I traveled with you for six years, oh yes I would." Sarah stood there with her hands on her hips looking up at him. "Well," she demanded, the torch casting her shadow down the twisting corridor, "who won?"

"If you must know," he said, staring her down, "neither of us." He looked away, and considered ending the conversation right there. Finally, he rubbed his neck and continued. "Ultimately, she did have me annulled, but it was only later that I found out about my daughter. By then, when I tried to visit I'd become such an embarrassment in trying to get annulled that my daughter wanted nothing to do with me." He sighed.

Sarah's eyes softened. "You have a daughter," she said in a whisper. "You must love her very much."

"I don't even **know** her," he said, sounding a little more bitter than he meant to. "She wanted nothing to do with me," he repeated. Then a smile slowly crossed his face, a little mischievous smile that ended with a twinkle in his eyes. "But I got even." He continued down the corridor towards a sliver of light.

"Oh Doctor, what did you do," she accused more than asked him.

"Yes, well, don't get excited," he said. "Eventually my daughter had a daughter, and one day, when she was very young, before they'd had a chance to turn her against me, I told her who I was and asked her if she wanted to take a ride." He chuckled. "My granddaughter Susan definitely took after my side of the family," he said. "She loved traveling, and I loved seeing her blossom away from all of ..." He motioned to their surroundings. "All of this."

"So, your granddaughter became your companion. That must have been lovely for both of you." Sarah was more and more feeling as if she had just been a brief side note in the Doctor's life.

"It was nice," he said, "but I found myself trying to be her father, and …" He stopped short, realizing suddenly that what looked like a large light far away was actually a tiny crack in the wall very close. "Let's just say it didn't work out," he said, taking the arrows from Sarah and forcing them one-by-one into the thin crack. "Susan wasn't my child, and I wasn't her father. It was pleasant, but it wasn't ever going to be what either of us wanted."

With a sudden motion, he thrust himself forward and against the arrows and the thin wall crumbled, creating an opening large enough for Sarah to get through. He stood out on the sunny grass. "There, no more dark enclosed space," he said, smiling at her and holding out his hand.

For the first time since she'd met him, Sarah Jane hesitated. He didn't feel like her best friend anymore. She felt a huge gap between them.

He saw her hesitation. "What is it?"

"Listening to you this whole time has made me realize how much I don't know you. It's allowed me to see just what a small part of your life I've been. Up until now, because you've been such a large part of my life, that never occurred to me. I mean, I know how old you are and that you'll live centuries after I'm gone, but I never stopped to think about what that really means before."

She'd put her finger on the very thing that had always held him back when it came to her. He found a relatively flat rock and sat down. "Sarah Jane, come here for a moment."

Sarah walked over and stood next to him.

He took her hand and gently pulled her to sit next to him. He debated what to say; he'd always kept his feelings for her inside. On the other hand, he'd always kept his past inside as well, and letting that out didn't seem to have been all that positive. But there was one thing that he wanted her to know. "You need to know that while I may not talk about it, you …" Now that he'd committed, he had no idea how to say it. "You mean more to me than you know."

She put her head down so he couldn't see her face. "You've had loads of companions before me and I'm sure that you'll have many more after you leave me. It's not that I blame you or anything, we both know you're rubbish on your own. It's just that I understand now that I really am just a silly little insignificant human."

He put a hand under her chin and lifted her up so that he was looking into her eyes. "You're so much more than that to me. And you have been since the moment you refused to make me coffee." He smiled at her and gently stroked her cheek, as if he could will her to understand how he felt about her.

Sarah Jane smiled up at him. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, but she understood him. "Did it take you that long? I knew how I felt about you the minute you said you weren't going to turn me in, even when I suspected you were up to no good and couldn't be trusted."

"Yes, I know," he said. "You almost got me killed. Sorcerer indeed," he said, laughing. "Right, well, I suppose we'd better push on, before someone or something catches up with us."

"Good idea." she said, smiling as she stood up and held her hand out for him to take. "The sooner we can get things back to normal, the better."

* * *

><p>John went white. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and a little part of him thought, 'Harry wouldn't want me excited like this.' But mostly he looked at Harry and the brace of guards with him. "Harry, don't do this," he finally said.<p>

"I don't know who you are," Harry said, "but the two of you are coming along with me right now." The Torchwood goons that flanked him seemed to dwarf all three of them, lending an air of additional malice.

"Before we agree to go anywhere with you, I'd like to know why, and by whose authority," Jack said, staring Harry down. He knew he couldn't win, but at least he might get a few more seconds to try and figure a way out of this. He just hoped Harry wouldn't say anything about his employer in front of John.

"By the authority of Her Majesty's government and these warrants for your arrest," Harry said, holding up a folded stack of paper.

Without so much as a word from Harry, the guards slammed John and Jack up against the wall and began handcuffing them. Harry leaned close to Jack's ear. "And anyway," he said, "I don't recall asking for your agreement."

"You still haven't told me what you're arresting us for." Jack continued to glare at Harry even with an ironic smile on his face. "Don't you know it's impolite to arrest and not tell?"

"You're under arrest for treason," Harry said, and directed the guards to load them into a waiting van.


	24. Chapter 24

As they were being pushed into the van, Jack leaned towards John. "Don't panic, big guy, it's all going to be OK," he said, flashing a smile at him.

But John was hanging on by a thread, and didn't even see him. All he saw was hooks and rails and tie-off points on the inside of the van, and all he felt was handcuffs stretching his arms behind him. He settled against the side wall, squeezing his eyes shut and trying every exercise he could think of. But nothing helped, and as the door slammed behind them he struggled to get enough air in the hot, dark box that was the back of the transport.

Jack could tell that something was suddenly very wrong with John. Before the door had closed, he had seen the look of sheer panic on his face, and he had a feeling that he knew what was going on. He leaned closer to him. "John, John, listen to me and try to focus on the sound of my voice. You're OK, you're safe and I'm here with you. Hang in here with me, buddy."

John heard Jack and tried to focus on him, even as he tried to keep track of all the images and sounds swirling around in his head. "I can't..." he cried. He tried to take deep breaths, but with no windows every movement the van made was like being tossed in a gyroscope, until he literally didn't know which way was up. "I can't keep it out..." The burning tightness in his chest wasn't remembered, wasn't imagined, it was here and now, and he let out a small muffled cry.

"John," Jack called out over the noise of the van, bumping against him as hard as he safely could with his shoulder. "John, are you alright?" John wasn't responding at all now, and even through Jack's shirt he could feel that John was clammy and sweating. Jack maneuvered his arms so that he could pull his body through them, gritting his teeth as he pulled his long legs over the handcuffs. He saw which way the van was rocking and decided which of the walls bordered on the cab. He pounded on it with his fists as hard as he could. "Stop the van! We've got a medical emergency back here!" he shouted as he hit the metal.

No answer.

"Harry, you're a Doctor, dammit! He's having a heart attack!"

John heard Jack shouting from what seemed like a great distance. Above the din of the nightmare voice he realized Jack was afraid for him. He could feel himself being tugged in two different directions: towards the safety of Jack's voice, and into the maelstrom of thoughts and memories that swirled around him. What he wouldn't have given for just one moment of Sarah's touch on his face, her voice in his ear. The thought of her gave him strength, and he forced himself to focus on Jack, who was sounding increasingly frantic. "Jack, it's …", he said as loudly as he could, even though it was barely above a whisper. He took a few more breaths. "It's just … it's angina, I think," he said a bit louder.

With no answer forthcoming from the cab, Jack knelt down next to John. The fact that he could talk reassured him, even though he wasn't sure it should have. "OK, you've had this before, you just need to calm down and it will go away, can you do that?" In the dim light he thought he saw John nod. "OK, now you get ready to move when I give you the signal," he said winking at him.

"Move? We're handcuffed," he pointed out, turning to show Jack his hands. "Are you mad?" he asked, trying to take control of himself and his emotions, hoping that it would keep the now-dissipated panic at bay so that he could feel better physically.

"No, in fact, I'm not even angry," Jack said, trying to go with it. He slipped his left hand into the inside of his coat pocket. After a few seconds, he drew a small black case out of it and shortly after that, he was free. He crouched behind John and started working on his cuffs. "Shh, be really quiet for a second." In another minute John's hands were free too.

"All right," Jack said, turning John to face him. "How's the pain?"

John nodded. "Mostly gone."

"Good, because I need you fit when we jump out of this truck."

John stared at him, wide-eyed. "Wh-what?"

Jack fiddled with the lock on the van. "We need to get out of here before we get wherever we're going. I'll help you jump first and then I'll follow you. Ready?"

But before John could tell him exactly what he thought of the idea, the van swerved and began to skid, screeching as it slid on the pavement. A moment later it had spun to a stop with the back door flung wide, and John was looking for something to hide behind to avoid the gunshots that were suddenly flying through the air.

Jack pulled John quickly towards him and then jumped out of the van with him. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he certainly wasn't going to stick around to find out. All the shooting was taking place at the front of the van, and he knew a great distraction when he saw one. He looked around, and spotting a ditch, he rolled a few feet towards it, holding onto John all the way. They'd left the city for a more rural, wooded area, and once they were hidden in the brush, he began to decide what their next move should be.

"Are you alright?" He started, checking John over like a mother animal looking at her baby after a fall.

John nodded. "I'm all right," he said, looking shaky but fairly sound.

"Good. We don't have much time." He spotted a brick house nestled in the woods not far away. "Let's head over to that house and see what we can find. Run, but stay down and be as quiet as you can be and let me know right away if your chest starts to hurt."

John decided to stop thinking and just follow Jack. It was certainly easier than trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. Besides, at this point he was so turned around that he wasn't sure he was even going to be able to follow directions, much less decide to do something else.

The shooting ended, and Jack watched Harry for a few moments as he knelt down to check on what looked like dead soldiers while others were looked around. A man with a machine gun checked the back of the van and seemed to be reporting the absence of its cargo.

Jack didn't stick around to see Harry's reaction; they didn't have much time before a search would start. He nudged John and they started running for the house. When they got there he didn't bother with the house and went straight to the garage, walking inside and spotting a simple sedan.

He tried the driver's door and it was open. "Hop in," he said to John.

Jack slipped in behind the wheel and leaning over, he started to pull out some wires beneath the dashboard. "I haven't stolen a car since I was a kid," he smiled at John. He nimbly twisted a few wires together and a moment later, the car started. "Mind you," he said, "this is not my style at all. I like them fast and sleek. This one is more like a family car, but right now we can't be fussy."

Slowly he pulled the car out of the garage and then headed across the field and away from the road. "Hold on, I'm going to gun it." He slammed his foot down and the car took off, leaving a dust trail behind it. "Not bad for a family car."

John tried to catch his breath. "Jack," he finally said, "what do you think happened back there?"

"With good old Harry? He wants to grab all the glory by catching us. Look, you need to remember that no one except us is the same person they were a few days ago. Just stick with me and we'll get through this, and hopefully find a way to fix it all."

John sat quietly as Jack roared through the countryside, the wide open spaces making him feel better as he pondered the situation. It was true that Jack was, so far, the only person who seemed to remember him. But there was something niggling at the back of his head that bothered him about giving Jack complete control like this.

He knew that everything was crazy, and he'd seen how Harry had acted when he'd arrived at his house the day before, but … "Jack, if Harry wanted to arrest me, why didn't he do it yesterday, when I was standing on his front porch?"

"If you remember correctly, he **was** taking you into custody when you were standing on his front porch. Good thing that a) I had the proper papers to get you out of that, and b) he didn't have a warrant for us yet. I'm betting that's what he was getting when I saw him at Dewhurst's office."

Jack thought about that for a moment. "Sure," he exclaimed. "That's why he acted so funny when he saw me there." He shook his head. "Man, I'm getting rusty, I should have figured that out long before now. Anyway, we got lucky and we're on to him now, so it won't happen again."

"Um..." John started, "who's Dewhurst?"

"Let's just say he's the head bad guy in all this right now. He's a power-hungry megalomaniac who just got worse in this version of life. He's another reason we have to figure out how to get things back to normal ASAP. Even the Queen doesn't want to mess with him."

The hair began standing up on the back of John's neck. "Jack, where did you go this morning?"


	25. Chapter 25

Jack stared straight ahead and wouldn't look at John. "Does it matter?"

John sat in silence, waiting and staring at him. He still had that fluttery feeling in his chest, that aura of unreality that always lingered after one of his "incidents", and he was in no mood for games.

"OK," Jack finally said, "if you must know, I went out to try and see how bad things were so we could decide what to do next."

John nodded, but was undeterred. "And where did you wind up on this fact-finding mission that you immediately ran home and bundled me into the car? We were moving so fast I didn't think to ask, but now I've had a little time to breathe."

"Somehow I get the feeling that you're having doubts about trusting me," Jack said, trying to sound as if it were all a joke. "If that's the case, then I'm sorry, buddy. I can let you out right now and leave you on your own to solve your problems, but I have to warn you, there are a lot of people looking for you right now, and your chances of not getting caught are pretty slim. Should I pull over, or not?" He finally mastered a nonchalant voice that covered his real emotions.

John looked at him and was quiet for a few moments. Leaving wasn't an option, of course, but that didn't make things simple. "So I can trust one best friend I've only known for a few weeks who admits he's not telling me everything, or I can take my chances with the other, who's always been honest with me but may not remember who I am. Some choice." John pulled his feet up onto the dashboard and leaned his forehead on his knees. He just wanted to be home, in bed, next to Sarah Jane.

Jack sighed. "Look, I know this isn't easy for you, but think this thing through. Harry had us arrested. He had **you** arrested **twice**. How does that make you feel about trusting him?" He slowed for just a moment to get his bearings, then sped up again. "On the other hand, I just saved you. Doesn't it make more sense to trust me? I'm even offering to let you go it alone, if that's what you want. Does that sound like you can't trust me? It's your call, but really think this over and I have a feeling that you'll see that I'm right."

"I know, you're right," John said, not sounding entirely certain of himself. He turned to look at Jack, who still had his eyes on the road. "But what aren't you telling me? Whatever it is, I think I have a right to know."

"John, you may have the right to know, but trust me, you really don't want to know." He leaned over and opened the glove box. He wiggled his hand around in it and then smiled. "Oh hey," he smiled as he pulled out a flask. "This could come in handy," he said, holding the bottle up for John to see.

"Yes," John said, then took the flask from Jack's hand and threw it out the window. "You're driving, idiot."

"John, why did you do that? Did you honestly think I was going to drink it? I never drink and drive, I need my head clear. You never know when a situation like this could come up."

"Then what did you want it for?" John asked, frustrated.

"For the simple fact that they make great bombs. My friend, you have no idea how many times a bottle of that stuff has saved the day for me."

"Sorry," John mumbled, embarrassed. A part of him wondered what kind of maniac was driving the car, but in the grand scheme of his week he was beginning to think that maybe the idea of Jack lobbing whiskey laden bombs wasn't all that strange. He put his feet back on the floorboards. "Alright," he said. In for a penny, in for a pound. "I guess we're back to trying to get the things we need for the temporal variation sensor. I left everything at the house, but I suppose we can start again."

"Tell you what, you make a list and then we'll go shopping. Does that sound OK to you?"

"I suppose so," John said, rooting around in the glove box for a pen and paper.

Jack saw what he was doing and laughed. "If you find anything useful, promise you won't throw it out the window, OK?"

* * *

><p>The Doctor took the cables he'd retrieved from Sarah Jane and shifted them on his shoulder. If he remembered his geography correctly, there was one more thing about this trip that Sarah Jane was not going to like.<p>

They came to the top of a hill, and saw the Tower of Rassilon in the distance, high on a precipice - on the other side of an almost unimaginably deep chasm.

Sarah looked at the tower and realized how hopeless this whole trip had been. There was no way they could reach the tower from where they were. "What do we do now, fly?"

"What a splendid idea," he said. He pulled a penknife out of his pocket and began to cut open the wrappings keeping the cables coiled. 'To Rassilon's Tower we go,' he sung to himself, 'Must choose above, between, below...'

He'd suspected they'd have this problem; it was why he'd taken the cables that had so weighed them both down as they travelled.

'He must be mad,' she thought. Then she thought again. Over the last several months she had been living with John, falling in love with him and then finally marrying him. John may have had some of the Doctor's habits, but she realized now that he couldn't be the Doctor. John would never do anything foolhardy, and he certainly wouldn't risk her life for any reason. Besides that, John always put her and her feelings first. She was beginning to wonder if settling down with John was making her see the Doctor in a new light.

Sarah looked down and saw a group of Cybermen heading towards them. "Doctor! Cybermen!" She put a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. 'Great,' she thought. Just when things are at their worst, something happens to make everything even more dangerous. For the life of her, she was hard pressed at this moment to remember why she thought this was such great fun just a few short months ago.

So far they'd been lucky in eluding the Cybermen. The Raston Warrior had almost killed them, but it had also inadvertently saved their lives. Too bad it wasn't here now. Their only chance was to get across the canyon. "Yes, well, see if you can hold them off," the Doctor said. "I won't be a second." He continued securing the line; it certainly wouldn't do to have it come loose while they were hanging in midair.

"Yeah, right." 'Stall, he says. It's just as if I never left. Well,' she thought again, 'for him I haven't left yet.' She looked around for something, anything, then picked up a big rock and threw it down the hill. At that she suddenly realized that she was simply out of practice and that when things were at their worst, she and the Doctor were at their best. She felt wonderfully ridiculous, and oddly enough, she was having fun. She tried not to get the giggles and could barely manage it. "Doctor... missed."

The Doctor looked at his handiwork. The cable end looked like a fairly decent lasso. Not that he'd ever actually tied one. And certainly not in 1" ultra-cable. "Right. That should do it," he said, wondering whom he was trying to convince.

"Honestly, that will never work!" Now she thought about how John would listen to her at this moment and she knew that the Doctor was going to do whatever he wanted to. Not that he was selfish or inconsiderate, it was just that he was so single-minded. She shrugged. She was defending the Doctor to herself. What did that say about her?

The Doctor hesitated for just a fraction of a second. "Well, maybe not. Can you think of a better suggestion?"

Sarah didn't say anything.

"No? Well, alright then. Stand well back," the Doctor said, and began twirling the metal lasso over his head.


	26. Chapter 26

Jack drove around for almost 30 minutes while John reconstructed his notes on the back of a service receipt they'd found in the glove box. Finally, they had their shopping list.

"I don't know," John said, looking at the list of components, "some of this might be a little hard to find." A few of the pieces, he knew, were sitting right on his bench in the workshop, but of course if the workshop were still there, he wouldn't have needed them in the first place. "I'm just going to have to build them from scratch. I don't suppose you saw a really good electronics shop in your travels. The one I usually go to doesn't exist here."

In fact, John had been understating the problem; of the five electronics stores he frequented, they could only find one that still existed in this reality. "You'd think they were trying to keep people from building things," he said as they climbed out of the car.

"Be grateful that this one is still here. Now," Jack said as he jumped out of the car and glanced around carefully. "Let's get everything you need and get out of here as quickly as possible, little brother."

John shoved his hands in his pockets and his heart sank. "Um … money?" He remembered that Jack had stashed some cash before they left the house, but that was before they'd been arrested and lost Jack's car.

"Not to worry, I've got plenty of it, remember? Tell you what, you start shopping around, and I'll join you in a few minutes." He gave John a gentle shove towards the store.

John looked at him nervously. "What are you going to do?"

"Just taking a few precautions, nothing for you to worry about," he said as he pulled a knife out of his back pocket.

John's eyes got big. "Jack..."

Jack looked at him innocently. "What?" He was clearly frustrated and running out of patience. "Look, just start shopping. We don't have a lot of time."

John shook his head, took a deep breath, and went into the store, determined to just get what he needed and hoping that Jack wasn't about to mug someone for the money to buy it. The sooner they got this over with the better.

True to his word, in a few moments Jack walked into the store and found John. "OK, everything is taken care of for now," he smiled, patting the pocket with the knife in it.

John stared at a small patch of something dark on Jack's hands.

Jack quickly grabbed his handkerchief and wiped it off. He smiled lamely at John. "It got a little messy but I fixed it pretty quick."

John blanched, then pulled him aside. "What did you do?" he hissed.

Jack looked at John's face and saw the horror in his eyes. "I switched the license plates on our car with another one. What do you think I did? Good grief, you act as if I'd killed someone or something," he laughed.

John grabbed Jack by the shirt and dragged him behind a rack of tools, whispering, "I thought you DID kill someone." He set a basket full of parts on the counter, then grabbed a few tools off the rack and smiled uneasily, trying to seem as though everything was perfectly normal, and there was nothing wrong.

Jack just shook his head at him as he pulled out his wallet and paid cash for John's supplies. "Come on," he said as he grabbed the bag and headed for the door. "I don't want to be late for lunch."

"Lunch?" John said as they emerged into the parking lot. "Is that all you can think of?"

"No, I just wanted to get out of there without seeming too conspicuous. But now that you mention it, I could really go for a nice juicy burger right now."

Jack opened the door for John and then got in the car. "Come on," he said as he pulled a small device out of his jacket pocket. "I know of a great place where we can call and have lunch waiting for us when we get there." He flipped the device open and started pushing buttons. Then he started talking, and in a few minutes he had placed an order for two burger platters, then flipped the device shut.

John stared, too interested in what he was seeing to think of anything else, like a magpie looking at a shiny object. "What's that?"

"Oh, just a new little gadget that was invented a short while ago." He opened it again and handed it to John. "In a year or so when they're on the market, everyone will want one. It's called a mobile phone."

John looked at it. "But don't you need some kind of network for it to work with?"

Jack was thinking about a way to explain "universal roaming" without actually explaining "universal roaming" when they heard tires screeching and Harry jumped out of a still moving Jeep in front of them.

"All right, you two, you really need to listen to me before Torchwood figures out what you're doing," he said.

Jack flashed a knowing smile at him. "Right, you want all the credit of capturing us for yourself, don't you? Sorry, not today, we're busy." Jack turned the ignition switch and, flooring the car as fast as he dared, zoomed away, leaving Harry in a cloud of dust.

John stared at Jack for a moment, trying to decide what to say. Finally, "Jack, what did Harry mean about Torchwood?"

"Never mind that John, we've got bigger problems. He may be able to trace that call. We won't be able to use the phone anymore and I'm afraid lunch is out for now too. We have to find someplace that good ole Harry doesn't know about for you to put that whatchamacallit of yours together, and fast. I'll explain everything later when there's more time."

"Jack, we're in a moving car. Until you figure out where we're going and get us there, we've got nothing **but** time."

"Well then, if you can manage it, get to work," Jack snapped. "What are you waiting for?"

John climbed into the back seat, pulling out parts and using the back of the car as a makeshift workbench. But he couldn't get things off his mind. "Jack, you've got a … well, I don't know what that phone is, but it's not … it's not something even I've seen, and working for U.N.I.T. I've seen some pretty … futuristic things. You seem to have access to everywhere, and Harry has no idea who I am, but as Deputy Director of MI-5, he knows who you are. So I'm going to come right out and ask you. Jack, how are you connected with this Torchwood place? Do you work for those people?"

Jack opened his mouth but before he could say anything else, an expletive flew out as a truck pulled out in front of him and he yanked the wheel, helpless to stop the car from rolling over and over before finally coming to a stop on its roof.


	27. Chapter 27

Jack put his hand on the inverted roof to steady himself and undid his seat belt, climbing down out of the driver's seat. "John, are you OK?"

John hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, and he looked a bit dazed, lying on the roof of the car, blood streaming down his face.

Before Jack could even react, Harry's car came to a screeching halt, and he jumped out and ran to the upturned auto. He got down on his hands and knees to try and look inside. "John, Jack, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Jack answered with a kick through the open window that knocked Harry backwards. A moment later he was out of the car and circling Harry, who'd regained his footing while Jack was climbing out of the car. "Harry, I'm telling you for the last time, back off. You don't know what you're doing, and I don't care what you think is the right thing, I'm not letting you have John, do you hear me?"

"Look old man, all I want you to do right now is to settle down and hear me out. If you'd just listen to what I have to say, you'll understand that what I'm doing is for both of your sakes." Harry tried to get to the car to check on John, but Jack kept blocking him. Harry was growing more and more frustrated. "Can't you forget about me long enough to make sure John's alright? He could be seriously hurt and in need of medical treatment. John, John, can you hear me," he called out.

"Yeah," they heard, as John woozily climbed out of the car. "Just a little … shaken **and **stirred." He was holding the bridge of his nose and tilting his head back, but blood already covered the front of his shirt.

"John, stay away from him," Jack warned. "Harry, I'm telling you, you stay away from him. I don't care what Torchwood does to you, or to me, or to anybody, they're not getting their hands on John, do you understand me?"

"Well dear boy, the last time I checked, I speak the Queen's English, which is more that I can say for you. Yes, I understand, now if you'll just quit going on and listen, maybe I can get you to understand **me**." Harry started towards the two men with his hands out as a gesture of peace.

"I swear Harry," Jack said, "one more step and I'll clean your clock."

"Um, Jack..." John started.

"Not now, John. I've been looking forward to this all day, Harry, so don't think I won't."

"Jack..."

"**Not now**, John."

"Jack, I feel it only fair to warn you that you don't want to get into a fight with me," Harry said with a smile. "I really don't want to hurt you, old man."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Jack said, and took a swing at Harry, missing him completely as Sullivan feinted to the right.

"For your own sake Jack, please stop," Harry said.

Jack swung at him again and Harry moved away quickly. Harry headed toward Jack with his hands at his side. "You know, you're making a huge mistake."

"Jack don't"

"**NOT NOW**, John! What you don't understand is that this man wants to take you back to the people who tortured you. You wanted to know if I work for Torchwood, and the answer is yes, so I know exactly what's going on here. John, you may not believe this, but I'm on your side, and Harry, I'm telling you that if you want John you're going to have to get him over my dead body, which is going to be a neat trick." He threw another punch, and this time he connected with Harry's jaw, but a moment later he found his own jaw on the pavement as Harry twisted his arm up behind him and put a foot on the side of his face.

"I really didn't want to hurt you Jack, and I'm sorry I did, but you didn't leave me a choice. Now, do I really have to hold you down like this while I explain things to you, or do I have your word that if I let you go, you'll stop trying to pound me and you'll hear me out?"

"I tried to tell you Jack," John said, "Harry was the Navy's top wrestler in his weight class. Or at least the Harry in our universe was."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you two, I **am**that Harry," he shouted. "I remember both of you! Not only that, I know something has gone out of whack with the world, and it started three days ago!"

"Seriously?" Jack said, though with his face smashed in the pavement it came out more like "Srsly?"

Harry sighed loudly as he loosened his hold on Jack so he could talk a bit more clearly. "Of course seriously, now will you stop and listen to me?"

Sirens began to resound, getting closer.

"Fine," Jack said, "just get off my face."

Harry let Jack go. "Quickly, there's no time to talk right now. Jump in my car you two, and let's get out of here while we still can."

"Wait a minute," John said, and leaned back into the car, scooping the various parts off the inverted roof and back into the bag, then staggered to Harry's car. "Come on, Jack, I'm willing to take the risk at this point."

Jack shook his head, snapped his neck back into place, and jumped in with them.

* * *

><p>The Doctor swung the cable several times and let go, watching as it soared over the chasm towards the Tower of Rassilon. Finally, it hooked on the horn of an ornamental statue and he tugged it tight, wrapping the other end around the boulder three times to take up the slack. "All right," he said, "I'm going to slide across. When I'm done, you take this wire He handed her an impossibly small piece of cable looped around in such a way that it could easily support her as long as she held on tightly to it. and slide across, just as I do. All right?"<p>

Without waiting for an answer, he took a second piece of looped wire, wrapped it around the cable, and slid down the wire across the canyon, climbing up onto the tower balcony at the other side. "All right, now you!" he shouted.

Sarah hesitated, looking down at the wire in her hand, then at the route she would have to take to get to the Doctor and then up at the Doctor himself. She knew that whatever else may happen, she could trust the Doctor with her life and the life of their unborn child. If he thought she could do it and it was the only way to stay safe, then she was going to do it.

Carefully she wrapped the wire around the cable, closed her eyes and then with all the courage she could muster, she made her leap of faith.

The Doctor watched her sliding across the chasm, realizing how much she must trust him. He'd taken a huge gamble just sliding without waiting for an argument from her; if she'd balked, he'd have had no way to go back and get her. But there hadn't been time; the Cybermen were approaching fast, and he'd been banking on her just wanting to follow him and get away from them, and not thinking about what she was actually doing.

As she felt the wind rushing against her cheeks she tried to distract herself by counting in her head the number of times she had been hanging in midair, both physically and emotionally. 'About eight times physically, and all the time emotionally,' she decided as she came to a stop and realized she wasn't quite there. 'Make that nine times,' she sighed to herself.

The Doctor reached down and grabbed her, trying to make sure she didn't fall without gripping her so tightly that he actually crushed anything. "I've got you. Now find a foothold. ANY foothold."

"Yes, yes," she snapped with annoyance. Why did he always have to act as though the most impossible things should be so easy for her?

"Have you got one?"

"Yes."

The Doctor checked to confirm that at least one foot was on something solid, and made sure he had a good grip on her. "Right, now let go this hand," he said, tapping her right hand.

"Let go?'He must be mad,' Sarah thought. She was beyond frightened and yet she still tried to do as he asked. Years of trust had taught her that at times like this is was better to try and comply rather than argue. She would save that for when she was safe, and she could chew him out properly.

The Doctor held onto the wire that so tenuously connected her to the zip line. His hearts caught in his throat as he could feel her slipping. He needed her to be able to hold that cable so he could haul her up. "Hold both loops in one hand," he practically shouted. "Both loops in one hand."

Finally she maneuvered herself so that both sides of the handle were intertwined in the fingers of her left hand, and he got a good grip on her. "I've got you. Right. Come on." He watched her struggle for purchase, wanting nothing more than to just take her by the hand and yank her upwards. "That's it," he said, "find another foothold. I've got you." Now she was almost over, and he took her other hand. "Put it on that ledge. Can you find that ledge?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Up you come."

She looked down and started to scream. She could feel the looped cable starting to slip off the wire.

He felt her tense, the movement almost causing him to lose her grip. He was seized with terror at the idea of watching her plummet down the side of the tower, and in an instant, he realized how much of his hopes, his fears, his dreams, were wrapped up in that one five foot four inch package. Her baby their baby was more than a miracle; it was his way of living on, even though he knew he didn't have long. More than that, it was a sign of how much she really meant to him, and in that moment, if he could have propelled her to safety with sheer force of will, he knew that he would have. He grabbed her tighter. "Don't look down!"

She looked up at the Doctor instead, into those eyes of his, and saw his concern, and something else. She just couldn't put her finger on it. After a short but terrifying struggle he finally managed to get hold of her upper arms and then began to help her climb over the wall.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Enjoy the flight?"

She thought about really letting him have it, but he looked so sweet standing there the way he always did when he was pleased with himself, so she just smiled and gave him a weak non-punch to the chest. "Great."

She looked over the wall and thought about where she would be without this man by her side. Life would certainly have been duller, but who would have wanted that? She loved the excitement of being with the Doctor every bit as much as she loved the calm serenity of being with John. How could she even begin to compare John with the Doctor? She realized now that they were both two wonderful but very different people and she would always love both of them for two entirely different reasons. She glanced over at the Doctor and smiled wistfully.

They stared out over the canyon. The view was essentially the same as it had been on the other side, but now that the danger of getting across was past, they could breathe, and it took on a strange sort of beauty amidst the desolation of the Death Zone. He put an arm around her shoulder, both an act of protection and a small attempt to prolong this moment.

She realized at that moment exactly how much she had missed all the adventure of just being with the Doctor. She decided to stop fighting it and enjoy every minute she had left with him. Who knew if or when she'd ever have another chance to be with him like this?

"Well, we're here," Sarah Jane said. "How do you reckon we get in?"

The Doctor looked around; considering that they'd taken the only apparent route to the top of the tower, he couldn't imagine security was all that tight. It didn't take him long to spot a small door. "Through here, would you believe?" He looked inside and didn't see anything menacing, but he was still concerned about being followed, so he motioned for her to go in, and he brought up the rear.

* * *

><p>"Are you two alright?" Harry asked. "That was quite a wreck."<p>

"I am," Jack said. He turned to John. "You?"

John nodded, still holding the bridge of his nose and tilting his head back. "I don't think it's broken."

"Say what you want about family cars," Jack said. "they may not be as fast or as sexy as a sportscar, but they're a whole lot safer."

"You'll probably have a black eye or two," Harry told John, risking a cursory glance as he drove. "Squeeze your nostrils and tilt your head forward. If you keep tilting it back like that the blood will run down your throat."

John nodded, thinking about everything that had happened in the last few minutes. Now that he had time to react, he wasn't sure what to think. Jack worked for Torchwood, and Harry kept arresting him. He wasn't sure if he'd jumped into the frying pan or the fire. "Harry," he said tentatively as they sped down the road, "if you're telling the truth, and you really are from our universe, and you really do know me, what's the one thing I'm most worried about right now?"

"Your wife Sarah Jane and your unborn child. I know she doesn't seem to exist in this world. Have either of you got any clue as to why this is happening?"


	28. Chapter 28

"We've got some theories as to why it's happening," Jack said, "but before we talk about that, if you're on our side, why did you keep trying to arrest us?" He looked intensely at Harry, as if daring him to answer.

"Because, you dolt," Harry said, checking the rearview mirror for pursuers, "I wasn't trying to arrest you, I was trying to save the both of you by getting you away from danger. Trouble is, you kept escaping before I could explain everything to you. Trust me, I've been just as frustrated as you've been about all this."

John buckled his seat belt, then went back to holding his nose. "But why didn't you just say so at your house?" he asked.

"There were too many people around, and I couldn't trust any of them. Those guards at my door and in the alley were hand-picked for this Harry Sullivan by Torchwood. If things were they way they used to be before everything went all topsy turvy like, there are people I know at MI-5 I wouldn't hesitate to trust, but as it is, I'm not sure I can even rely on my own shadow anymore."

"Then why were you -"

"I was going to have them bring you to my office," Harry interrupted, "so I could explain what was going on in private. So imagine my surprise when I asked where you were, and they politely informed me that one Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood had claimed his little brother. I had no idea whether you were safe or not, and I wasn't taking any chances."

John sat quietly, trying to focus on the conversation, and not doing a very good job. He leaned his head forward slightly and tried to breathe only through his mouth, but no matter what he did he still smelled the blood in his nose, like a shroud of sensation hanging over him and insulating him in his own pocket of existence.

"We'll head in this direction for a little while," Harry said, noticing John's lack of reaction to the bombshell that Jack worked for Torchwood, "then double-back toward my house. You'll be safe there."

"Are you sure about that, Harry?" Jack asked, still a little wary. "Dewhurst is pretty sharp, and he's dead set on getting his hands on John. I don't think your place is a great idea."

"It's safer than you think, Jack. Turns out that in this warped version of the world, I'm one of Dewhurst's hand-picked men, and because of that, it seems that there's very little I'm not told or have access to. He'd be good and cheesed off if he knew what this Harry Sullivan has apparently been doing with all that information, by the way," he smiled.

"Nothing would surprise me as much as you working for Dewhurst," Jack said. "What have you been doing?"

"Well, I suppose you could call it an underground of sorts." He looked around, still looking for signs that they'd been followed, then made a left turn and headed off perpendicular to their original path. "There is a team of people, including me, that is saving everyone we can from being labeled as 'untrustworthy' and put into prison - or worse - by Dewhurst's version of Torchwood. And apparently, because of what I'm now privy to, we're one step ahead of them most of the time." He turned to look at John for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe I should take a look at you," he said with concern.

John shook his head slowly, but in fact he was just a little bit green, and shaking slightly as blood dripped down his face from his forgotten nose. He'd been watching the conversation go back and forth, listening to the two of them discussing Torchwood as though it were just another organization, and all the while he could feel himself sweating as he tried to push his memories of what had happened back into the recesses of his mind where he didn't have to think about it. "So all of these police, and soldiers, and … they're all … they're all Torchwood?" He felt sick.

"Not directly, old chap, but they all have to answer to Torchwood. Dewhurst's got all of England in a police state and he has the last word on everything. And you'll never guess who's behind this band of freedom fighters," he said, as if trying to cheer John up. "Sarah Jane's Aunt Lavinia, do you believe it? She's got that huge house and she has people living in every room, even the basement. Isn't that amazing? She's quite the fiesty old bird, that one," he chuckled. "Funny thing is she doesn't remember me at all and she thinks I'm bloody marvelous right now."

John heard what he was saying, but it wasn't helping. A drop of blood dripped down his lip, and the sensation and taste set off an avalanche of emotions he couldn't quantify, let alone control. He felt as though he'd been holding things in check for an eternity, and he didn't know how long he could go on, the nebulous voices now transplanted from his nightmares into his waking mind, tormenting him.

"Harry," Jack said quietly, "stop the car."

"Why, what's wrong," asked a very confused Harry.

"Just do it."

Harry pulled over and Jack got out of the car, then opened John's door and knelt down in front of him, taking him by the shoulders and turning John to face him. "John, I want you to listen to me, all right?"

John stared at him as though he'd never seen him before. "But you're …"

"I'm the man who saved your life," Jack said. "I'm the man who broke into Torchwood and pulled you out of there and made sure there'd be an ambulance waiting for you when I dropped you on your front lawn."

"You?" John asked. "Why?"

"Because no matter what they think about you, nobody deserves to be treated like that. Nobody." He paused, waiting for it to sink in, then went on. "That's why after I knew you were safe, and you were going to be alright, I went back to Dewhurst and gave him my condolences on your escape and offered to keep an eye on you so they wouldn't assign someone else. Ever since then I've been feeding him a line of bull so he thinks he's got the full story when he's really got nothing. And that's **all** he's going to get," Jack emphasized. "**Nothing**. Harry and I are your friends, and we're going to go to the ends of the earth if we have to to make sure that nothing and nobody hurts you again, do you understand that?"

John wanted so badly to believe him, to believe that everything was going to be all right, that what was past was past. He looked hard at Jack, and for the first time he saw what looked like a thousand years of pain behind the laughter in his eyes.

In that moment, he knew that Jack understood.

John turned to look at Harry.

"He's right, John," Harry said as he put his hand on John's shoulder. "There's absolutely nothing either one of us wouldn't do to protect you or to help you in any way."

"We're not going to let anything happen to you," Jack agreed.

John nodded and took a deep breath. 'I can't do this now,' he told himself. 'Later. I'll think about it later.' For the thousandth time since he'd woken up under the bridge he wished Sarah Jane was there. He took his shirtsleeve and wiped the blood off his face, then forced himself to ignore the images and sensations in his head.

When that didn't work, he decided to go forward anyway, focusing on Jack and Harry. "Right," he said, not sounding nearly as steady as he wanted to. "I say we go to Lavinia and see if we can find any trace of my workshop." He held up the bag he'd rescued from the car. "This won't get us far."


	29. Chapter 29

No sooner had the Doctor and Sarah Jane entered the tower than he began to feel tendrils of telepathic energy coming towards him, like a fast flowing river trying to push him backward. It was a cold, icy feeling - a feeling he could only describe as "full of dread".

It wasn't more than a few moments before Sarah felt as if she had come up against an invisible wall. She turned to face the Doctor. "I can't go on. I feel as if something is pushing me back."

"Yes. Yes, I can feel it too, Sarah. It's the mind of Rassilon. We must be nearing the tomb. You've got to fight it. You must keep your mind under control."

"I can't." She said, sensing some awful danger to herself, the Doctor and their baby. It was so overwhelming it made her want to cry. She turned to the Doctor for protection and reassurance. "I feel as if something absolutely terrible were going to happen."

"Yes, I know." The Doctor thought about it for a moment. Intellectually, he knew that Rassilon was dead. He had been for millions of years. But then, he'd thought that about Omega, as well, and he'd been very much alive - or at least alive enough to cause an enormous amount of trouble. If he was wrong, the last thing they needed was for Sarah Jane to walk into Rassilon's so-called tomb carrying a Gallifreyan child. Oh, perhaps Rassilon himself wouldn't object. He might even be glad for it, having created the looms in the first place in order to ensure the survival of the Time Lord race.

On the other hand, the idea of a mere human carrying a Time Lord child... Rassilon might not take it all that well. "Sit down here," the Doctor said. He guided her to a small set of steps they'd just come down and had her sit. "Sit down. Just for a minute." Perhaps he'd just check things out. After all, even if Rassilon were actually dead, there might be other Time Lords about. He stroked her hair. She was so precious to him. How had he not told her that? He sighed and began to head toward the tomb.

"But where are you going?" She didn't want to lose sight of him, especially the way she was feeling now. She had this urge to grab hold of him and stop him. She felt that if she let him go on without her, she would never see him again.

* * *

><p>Harry glanced as the bag in John's hand. "What's that?" he asked.<p>

"Well, it's about my third attempt to build something to try and detect the source of the temporal deviations that we're seeing. Harry," John said, "have you been to Goodge Street station?"

"Not personally, but I've read the report on it. Why do you ask?"

"Harry, the first time you tried to arrest us, I was trying to see what was going on at the station and I saw the police keeping people out and keeping something in. It looks like the London Event never happened - or at least, the Doctor wasn't there to stop the … well," he said, eyeing Jack, "you know."

Harry looked over at John, then at Jack in the back seat. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to talk about it, John."

"Harry," Jack said with a sigh, "since we really don't have the luxury to dance around things here, let me save you some time. John's talking about the Great Intelligence," he said. "Look, Torchwood knows all about the Doctor, so you don't have to try and keep that from me. It seems that in this reality we've found ourselves in, the Doctor - or at least the first few versions of him - doesn't exist. That's why the world is so different."

"Not just the Doctor," John said morosely. "What I don't understand is why Sarah Jane's missing too."

"And not just Sarah Jane," Jack said. "I didn't have a chance to find out if he's actually missing, or whether it's because he didn't meet the Doctor down in the Tube, but Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart hasn't founded UNIT, and that's why Torchwood is so powerful. There's nothing to counterbalance Dewhurst's megalomania."

They rode in silence for a few moments, until Harry spoke. "You are aware, Jack, that I'll most likely remember everything if we manage to resolve what's wrong and go back to the way things were, aren't you?"

"He knew that when he said it all," John said before Jack could say a word. "That's why I trust him."

Jack hadn't thought it would mean as much to him as it did, but he found himself staring at John from the back seat, feeling... good.

John, meanwhile, had other things on his mind. The panic had gone; knowing that Harry and Jack had his back helped him to really believe that the world wasn't about to crash down on him. But there was that part of his mind that insisted on thinking about the darkness that threatened to envelop him, even as he tried to put what Jack had said into perspective.

However, it was a tiny part of his mind, and by the time they arrived at Hillview Road he had it under control, at least for the moment.

So it happened that about an hour later, Lavinia was about to let John into the shed that only a few days ago had been his workshop. "Of course Mr. Tinker, you realize that this is only my potting shed and even I haven't gone into it for years. Since the insects disappeared, there was no point in planting anything. It's bound to be dank and dusty in there, are you sure you want to have a look in it?"

"I'll kick myself if I don't, L- Ms Smith," he said, holding up the torch she'd pulled out for him. Finally, she pulled the door open and he carefully walked inside.

A part of him had expected it to be deja vu - the shed, before he and Sarah Jane had cleaned it up for the workshop just a few months earlier. But it wasn't. Gone were the old bicycles and children's toys, even the bizarre statues Lavinia seemed to pick up whenever she visited a new country in her travels. This was the potting shed of an almost obsessively organized old woman, with not a thing out of place, only a layer of dust a testament to the fact that it was disused.

And not a scrap of evidence of the workshop. He stepped back outside. "Nothing, I'm afraid."

"Sorry old man. Given the circumstances," said Harry. "I would have been quite surprised if you had found anything. If there's any way I can help you, of course you know I will."

John nodded. He looked around for the swing where he and Sarah Jane had spent so many evenings, but it was nowhere to be found. Neither was the jungle gym and swing set the neighborhood children played on while their mothers brought their toasters for repair.

It was his home, but it wasn't. All he wanted was to go upstairs, change into a shirt that wasn't covered with his blood, and lie in bed next to Sarah Jane. He looked at the back door, expecting Sarah Jane to stick her head out and tell him lunch was ready. "I just … I think I'd like to just sit out here for a few minutes, if it's all right with Miss Smith."

"Under the circumstances, I think we'll all be a lot safer if you came inside, Mr. Tinker," she said. She motioned towards the neighbors.

"Of course," he said.

As they walked inside, Lavinia pulled Harry aside, stepping with him into the drawing room she used as an office - as it was the only room other than the kitchen that didn't seem to have at least one person billeted in it, even if the house was eerily empty - and closing the door behind them. "As it happens, I'm glad you came by; I was going to contact you anyway."

"Well, in that case then, glad to oblige," Harry smiled and bowed his head towards her. "What can I do for you, Miss Smith?"

She motioned towards a chair, then sat down across from him. "I wanted to let you know that it's time to act. For obvious reasons I've kept you out of things until the last moment, but now, that moment is here."

Harry looked alarmed. "What have you got planned, and when do you intend to execute this plot of yours?"

"What a serendipitous choice of words, Mr. Sullivan. An execution is precisely what we have in mind."

Harry blinked at her, sure he must have heard wrong. "Come again, please?"

"It's time to put an end to the tyranny of Torchwood," she said. "It is time, in short, to put an end to Horace Dewhurst."


	30. Chapter 30

"Good heavens woman," Harry said, shocked, "are you telling me you've made plans to have Horace Dewhurst killed?"

"Keep your voice down," Lavinia said, barely moving a muscle. "You know as well as I do that it's the only way. Torchwood has simply grown too powerful, and too dangerous. We can't go on as we have. Every day it seems there's some new threat we need to be 'protected' from, some group that needs to be segregated from society. The world simply isn't meant to be this way, Harry."

Harry sighed. He knew she was right. Even though only three people were aware of it as far as he could tell, the world as it should be had disappeared. There was no telling if they could get it back to normal, especially if they didn't know for sure what had caused it.

He knew in his heart that their theory was probably right; the world was like this because the Doctor was somehow gone. He knew too that they couldn't just sit around hoping the Doctor would suddenly reappear and put things to rights.

No, he realized that it was up to people like himself and Miss Smith to remedy the situation as best they could. He sighed again. "Unfortunately, you're right, Dewhurst is on his way to becoming a dictator and it's only a short matter of time before he has enough power to take over the Empire. Worse yet, I'm quite sure he won't stop there."

"No, he won't," Lavinia said. "So it's time to take action. And this afternoon, there'll be a rally in protest of some of the latest austerity measures in Piccadilly, and I very much suspect that he will personally be there, isn't that right, Deputy Director?" She waited for Harry's response.

Harry paused for a moment. She was shrewd, he'd give her that. But when he'd thought about getting into espionage, and even done a mission here and there, he'd never counted on what it would actually feel like to play both sides, as she was asking him to do now, in confirming Dewhurst's schedule. "Yes indeed he will most assuredly be there Miss Smith," Harry said. Any reluctance he had was tempered by the knowledge that this was something that absolutely had to be done. "Do you have anyone picked to do it? If not, I'd like to volunteer for the job."

Lavinia sat back in her seat. "You, Harry? I must admit my intentions were to do the job myself. After all, who's going to suspect an old woman? And despite appearances, I am a dead-eye shot."

"I can't let you do that, Lavinia. It's too dangerous," Harry said.

Lavinia smiled quizzically at him. "There's something else going on here, Harry. You've always been a peaceable man, despite the position in which you've found yourself, dedicated to saving lives, rather than taking them. Why would you want to do this?"

Harry debated what to tell Lavinia. For years he'd been thought of as a bumbling buffoon. It was all very congenial teasing, but nonetheless it stung at times.

But that wasn't the real reason. He was new to this world, but for the first time he really felt as though what he was doing mattered - as if he were more than just a superfluous sidekick. Oh of course he'd saved lives, and that mattered. But now he had a chance to make a difference to the world.

He had a chance to be the hero.

He pulled himself up and gave Lavinia a resolved look. "I am not a bad shot myself you know," he said, "and I would think it cowardly of me to let you risk your life while I stood by and merely watched.

Lavinia smiled and patted his hand. "Harry, nobody would think you cowardly. And I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist on doing this myself. For one thing, I guarantee I'm a better shot than you. For another, I'm an old woman. If something happens to me, you can still carry on. You're much more valuable to the movement than I am."

For a moment the thought of something happening to her seemed strange, alien. But this was not his world, and it was a real possibility. The hero he'd convinced himself he could be couldn't just let that happen, but he could see she was determined. "I'll tell you what then, I have to be there anyway and if anything goes wrong, I'll be there to finish the job."

"All right, Harry," Lavinia said. "But don't hold your breath. I'm going to make sure that this one sticks. And what about your friends there?"

Harry looked over at John and Jack. The thought of them actually needing his help brought a smile to his face. "You're right, but you take care of yourself and make sure you have a foolproof get away plan my dear." He patted Lavinia on the shoulder.

"Of course," she said, her face unreadable. "But just in case, we've cleared the house beforehand. Can't have Torchwood swooping down here and catching everyone unawares. You'll have noticed it's a bit quiet here this morning."

"Yes I did, as a matter of fact. I was going to ask you about it, but I got a bit distracted. Best leave me a copy of the keys before you go. Here's a copy of my house keys. You'll be safe there if you need to make a run for it." He gave her a quick hug as he handed her his keys. "Take care, you're too loved and needed to have anything happen to you."

* * *

><p>The Doctor started to push on. "I won't be a second," he told Sarah Jane.<p>

"Well don't be too long!" he heard her shout, apparently used to his definition of "a second."

But as he moved through the corridors he was too nervous to be amused. The feeling of dread Sarah Jane was picking up was just a tiny fraction of what he was feeling.

The endgame was coming. He could feel it in his bones.

And then what?

Suddenly a voice broke his reverie. "Doctor, Doctor this way."

The Doctor turns to look at the figure pointing down the corridor. "Mike," he said, surprised. "Mike Yates, how did you get here," the Doctor asked.

"Same way as you," Mike answered. "Liz Shaw is here too." Liz emerged from the shadows, smiling.

"Good heavens," the Doctor said. How many more of his companions had been kidnapped and brought to the Death Zone? Was Jo Grant back there somewhere? "Hello Liz," the Doctor said. He smiled. At least he got to see some of these people; he missed them. "Any more of you," he asked her.

"Some one you should know very well. Come and see for yourself," Liz answered.

"Hmph, " he said, almost in a grunt. Instinctively, he knew who she meant. "Not that little fellow in the checked trousers and the black frock coat?"

"And more," said Liz. "There are five of you now," she told him.

"Oh good grief, " the Doctor said. Five. And they were waiting. Any good feeling he might have had from seeing Liz and Mike had dissipated. His selves would gather, they'd solve whatever puzzle was responsible for them being together, and then it would be over.

And then before too long,** he** would be over.

"And they're waiting for you," Mike informed him.

"Yes,well," the Doctor said, "you wait here a moment, I'll go get Sarah." There was something in Mike's manner that he didn't like. He couldn't put his finger on it.

Mike quickly stepped in front of him and held out his hands to stop him. "I'll fetch her," he said. His tone was almost a warning, and it made the Doctor stop in his tracks.

He stared into Mike's eyes. Something wasn't right. Part of him thought it was just the Mind of Rassilon, twisting his perceptions. But perhaps not. It didn't matter; he wasn't going to take a chance with Sarah's safety. "No, I think I'll go, Mike, she's nervous enough as it is," he answered him.

"Let Mike go," Liz said. It was the same, almost warning tone, as though she and Mike were the same person. "Your other selves need you urgently."

"No," said the Doctor. "I, er, think I'll go, thanks." He wasn't sure what was going on. He only knew he had to get away from them. They weren't what they seemed. Nothing was what it seemed. The Mind of Rassilon permeated everything, coloring and twisting every person, every surface.

"No, Doctor," Mike shouted, even as Liz ordered, "Stop him!"

But the Doctor was beyond listening to them. "How?" he asked, turning to take one last look at them. He was sure now that he was right. "You're phantoms," he shouted, "illusions of the mind!"

"Stop," Liz cried out, her voice becoming an eerie parody of the woman he knew as he raced down the corridor back to Sarah Jane. "Stop hiiimmmm!"

Like Lot's wife, he glanced back behind him as he ran, but rather than turning to salt, he saw Mike and Liz fading back into the miasma that was the world around him.

Suddenly he wasn't sure: was **any** of this real?


	31. Chapter 31

On one level, John had wanted to stay at Lavinia's house, but the familiarity he craved was somehow … wrong, and he agreed to go back to Harry's place with Jack while Harry went out and tried to get the rest of the parts John needed for the sensor.

Harry let himself back in when he returned from his shopping trip. "I'm back," he announced to John and Jack.

"Great," John said, jumping up to meet him like an excited child meeting his father at the door. "Did you get it?"

"I'm pleased to say that I was able to get everything on the list," Harry said proudly. "However, I have to tell you that it's a good thing that it was me that was buying those items, otherwise you would never have gotten them. It seems that in these times, they're very hard to find and if you can find them, even harder to buy. Supplies are rare and they won't sell them to just anyone. I had to explain what I needed them for and that I can assure you entailed some very quick thinking." He set the package he was carrying down in front of John. "I just hope you can put these to good use, they were very expensive."

"Well, I appreciate it, Harry, but at this point it's much better than me trying to cobble them together out of baling wire and chewing gum." He pulled the parts out of the bag and started unpacking them. "I hope nobody got suspicious. I mean, if they're restricted... things are strange enough without **you** becoming a target."

"Well, they're not exactly restricted, just hard to come by." He took his coat off and sat down on the couch. "There's one thing I can't figure out, though."

"What's that, Harry?" Jack asked, watching John unpacking the things Harry had bought and immediately becoming engrossed in them.

"If the whole world is different," Harry asked, "how is it that the three of us know about it?"

Jack got a cold stab in the pit of his stomach. When John had first asked him that question, he'd been content to think it was the beacon; but at that point they hadn't known that Harry was also unaffected. That only left one answer.

Time travel.

Jack, of course, had been a time traveller since long before he met the Doctor, and he knew that that gave him a unique perspective; because he was no longer part of the normal flow of time, he could perceive changes in it. Ditto for Harry, whom he knew from Torchwood had also traveled with the Doctor.

That just left John.

And if John was or had been a time traveler, then chances were that Torchwood was right, and somehow, as unlikely as it seemed, he was the Doctor.

"I mean," Harry continued, "I suppose it would make sense for me, since …" He looked at Jack, as though he were thinking and coming to a conclusion he not only didn't like, he didn't even want to think about. "Jack," he said slowly as he prepared himself for the answer. "Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

Jack was too experienced to just roll over and volunteer information before finding out just what it was that Harry suspected. "Such as?"

"I know what Torchwood is thinking about John and so do you, so I'm going to be blunt about it and cut right to the heart of the matter. I know you've been assigned to cover John, so don't try to deny it. What I want to know is, is it because you've had some kind of experience with time traveling?"

Jack realized there was a whole other side of the bumbling Doctor Sullivan that he'd never seen before. For just a moment, he considered his options. By far the easiest would be to simply lie, and deny everything. But Harry trusted him, and Jack didn't have the heart to repay that with deceit.

Of course, that didn't mean he had to tell him everything. "Possibly. I used to be a Time Agent, and Torchwood knows that."

"Right, well, thank you for that, then. That means the one last piece of the puzzle left to be solved is John. Can you tell me what, if anything, you know about him that I don't?"

"Harry," Jack said, interested in this new outlook, "I can honestly say that I don't know anything about him that you don't, save that Torchwood thinks he looks a bit like a sketch they have of the Doctor from 1879. Other than that, I'm as baffled as you."

"I see, then one last question, do you you think that John is the Doctor?"

Jack looked over at John, Harry's eyes following his.

A moment before, John had been engrossed in building, oblivious to their presence like a child with a favorite toy. Now he stared at them, wide-eyed, not quite on the verge of panic. "Of course not. You don't, right, Jack? That's why you saved me from Torchwood. That's why you've been watching over me, because you know I'm not."

"Of course," Jack said uneasily. "Of course you're not. I was about to tell Harry that there's a perfectly good explanation for all this that doesn't involve you being the Doctor. I was going to tell him about that beacon thing that you've been building."

"That's right, it's the beacon, Harry. I mean, sure, you traveled with the Doctor, but Jack and I, we must have been near the beacon I made to call him when all of this started."

"I know about that John," said Harry. "But what exactly does being near the beacon have to do with any of this? I don't see how it helped you or Jack to keep your memories."

John got up from where he was and grabbed a piece of paper off the desk. "Listen, Harry, pretend that this paper doesn't have any thickness at all. That would make it two dimensional, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Right, so if we lived in this piece of paper, that would make us two dimensional, and for us, time would be the third dimension, right?"

"Right," Harry agreed.

"So if I were to stack up a bunch of these pieces of paper," he said, snatching every piece of paper he could find and piling them on top of each other, "each piece of paper would be a different point in time. So if we stayed at the same x-y coordinate but went up or down, we'd stay in the same place, but we'd travel in time, you see?"

"Well sort of," Harry tried his best to follow John's train of thought.

"Well, we're not actually two dimensional beings, we're three dimensional beings, with time being the fourth dimension. So if you think about this stack of paper as the whole three dimensional universe, for every second there's another stack."

"I see," Harry nodded. "What I don't see is how this all ties in with what you and Jack remember."

"Right," John said, getting more agitated. "So if you think of the whole cosmos, that is all of three dimensional space at every four dimensional second as an office building where every floor is one of these three dimensional stacks, then to travel in time you'd just go from floor to floor but stay in the same place. In fact, that's what we all do. We all travel in time, we just do it forward at a rate of one second per second. But a time traveler like you or the Doctor can get on an elevator and sort of randomly go from floor to floor."

He started pacing the room now, his hands shaking. "So all of the cosmos is in this one office building, but who's to say that there aren't other office buildings - alternate timelines, if you will - out there that we don't know about. The beacon has to generate a lot of temporal energy to send out a signal that reaches throughout the entire office building, so it's possible that it created a sort of bubble around itself. So if Jack and I were standing in that bubble when the office building shifted, we could be in the same place and time - that is, on the same floor of the office building, but just in a DIFFERENT office building, you see?"

His entire body was trembling now, and his face was a sickly gray. "I'm telling you, there's a perfectly good explanation that doesn't require me to be the Doctor, you hear?" He grabbed Harry by the lapels and started shaking him. "I'm **NOT** the Doctor, I'm telling you! You have to believe me!"


	32. Chapter 32

The Doctor ran back towards Sarah Jane, the eerie keening of not-Liz's "Stoooooop hiiiiiiiiiimmmmm!" ringing in his ears. For a moment he'd thought Liz and Mike were really there; then in an instant he'd had that flash of insight that told him they weren't flesh and blood, just illusions created by the Mind of Rassilon.

The Mind of Rassilon was powerful, permeating the very air around him, and he was seized with a thought: how much had the Mind of Rassilon created? The corridor? The tower?

What if everything he'd experienced on Gallifrey had actually been created in the Mind of Rassilon?

* * *

><p>Sarah heard screaming and she knew something had to be wrong with the Doctor. "What's happening?" She jumped up with concern. "Doctor? Doctor!" She called out frantically, feeling more and more afraid as she searched for him. She started to run in the direction he'd gone, suddenly bumping into him. "Oh, there you are," she said, relieved.<p>

"Sarah?" He stared at her, as if trying to look deep into her soul.

"Sarah?" she repeated. Why was he looking at her that way, as if she wasn't real or something? "Of course I am. What are you talking about? Listen, why did you leave me so long? And what was that scream?"

He smiled at all of her questions, and the fact that she was already looking past him to see what was going on. This had to be Sarah, indeed. "Just phantoms from the past."

"Yes, well, I'm in the present, and I'm real."

"Yes," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "You're real enough." He put his arm around her, his rock, the one thing he could rely on in all this. Without her, he'd still be wandering around the corridors wondering if any of this was real; she'd saved him as certainly as he'd saved her from falling off the tower. "Come on," he said, starting off in the direction of the tomb - and away from where he'd seen Liz and Mike.

It was at that moment that Sarah finally understood how much she meant to the Doctor. As they walked she thought back and saw it all, the times he hugged her, reached out for her, tenderly stroked her cheek, that was love. All this time, he really had loved her. Why didn't she see it while it was happening, how could she have been so blind? Her heart's one desire was there all along and she missed it somehow. She vowed then and there that she would make sure that John always knew exactly how much he meant to her. She didn't want to miss one moment of what they shared together.

* * *

><p>"Steady on, John," Harry said, "I believe you, but if you don't calm down, you're going to make yourself ill."<p>

But John was beyond reason, gripped by panic and visions of darkness that he couldn't push out of his mind. "You don't believe me," he said, "you're just saying that because you want me to admit it, but I'm NOT HIM!"

Jack was worried about more than John's health. "John, you need to keep your voice down before somebody hears you."

John dropped Harry's lapels and rounded on Jack. "I don't care if everybody hears me! ** I'M NOT THE DOCTOR!**"

One thing that Harry had discovered in this world is that he was in the habit of carrying around a loaded syringe of sodium thiopental, which he presumed was used in relation to interrogations. But it was also his drug-of-choice for short-term sedation, and while John was ranting to Jack, Harry grabbed his arm, slipped his shirt sleeve up as fast as he could and stuck the needle into his vein, dispensing the entire dose.

John screamed as the needle went in, an inhuman shriek that was sure to draw the neighbors, at the very least. But then within thirty seconds he was down, sagging in Jack's arms like a broken rag doll.

"Sorry John, I didn't have a choice," Harry said as he let him go.

Jack hugged John's unconscious form for a moment, wishing he'd never heard the name 'Torchwood'. He laid him gently on the couch and then dropped heavily into an armchair. "That was … fun," he grimaced.

Harry grabbed his stethoscope and checked John's vitals before settling into the armchair opposite Jack. "The sedative will keep him under for five or ten minutes, but I shouldn't be surprised if he sleeps a lot longer than that, the way he's been wearing himself out."

Harry eyed Jack for a moment, then decided he had nothing to lose at this point. "Well Jack, in for a penny, in for a pound. Just how much do you know about what's been going on in John's life in this version of things?"

For just a moment, Jack laughed at Harry's choice of words. Not that he was going in for a pound, however. "Not much, actually," Jack said. "I mean, it's a given that Torchwood is after him, and apparently this version of me has been trying to find him for quite a while. At some point he escaped from a hospital, which I'm guessing is where Torchwood was questioning him about whether or not he was the Doctor. He's been in a homeless encampment since. You should have seen him when I found him."

Harry sighed heavily. "I can just imagine. You know, I'm sure, that they let that animal Rainsford lose on him, don't you?" Harry tried not to sound as if he wasn't accusing Jack of any part of it, but it wasn't easy.

Jack hesitated, then nodded. "In our world too," he said quietly, staring at the floor. "I've seen hardened agents who were never the same after Rainsford got his hands on them. I'm guessing the trauma you and I have seen in John is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't know what they were after here, but in our world they are bound and determined to prove that he's the Doctor, even if the first person they have to convince is him. No wonder he reacted like that when **we** wondered about it, poor guy."

He looked over at John resting peacefully. "Poor chap's been through so much, I shudder to think of what would happen if they got their hands on him again. I suspect it would be a race to see which snaps first, his body or his mind."

Jack stood, took the afghan off the back of his chair and used it to cover John, then briefly smoothed an unruly patch of his hair, the way one might soothe a sleeping child.

He sat down. "I wish I could have stopped it," he said quietly.

Harry didn't miss the look that Jack gave John as he tended to him. He reminded himself that Jack had stuck with John ever since he started searching for them. "Jack, I afraid I'm going to be blunt and cut right to the chase. Where do your first loyalties stand in all this, with Torchwood or with John?"

For only an instant, Jack looked wounded. "My loyalties are with John, Harry. I thought I made that clear in the car."

"I'm sorry, but I can't be too careful here. I have no margin for mistakes, there's too much at risk. Not just my life and my career, but others lives as well. I'm sure I don't have to tell you, Jack, that it doesn't help either of us to be on opposing sides in a game as dangerous as this one is."

"No, of course not," Jack said. "And it's probably even more dangerous than either one of us even realizes."

"John trusts you and that goes a long way for me, but there's just one thing I'd like to know about you. You've always treated John like a brother, why is that?"

Jack thought about that for a moment. He hadn't really realized it, but he supposed Harry was right. He'd always thought of the Doctor as an older brother; had he transferred those feelings to John? He looked back over at him for a moment. No, now it was different somehow. "I lost my brother when I was very young, and I always felt responsible. I guess John's kind of taken his place, in a way, and I'm going to make sure nothing happens to him."

Harry understood and smiled at John. "I never had a brother, younger or otherwise, but if I did, I hope he would be exactly like John. He's come to mean a great deal to me as well since he came into my life. As have you, I shudder to admit."

"The Three Musketeers," Jack said. "Really, we're all three like brothers. John does have a way of bringing people together."

Harry nodded. "There's something special about him. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I suppose it's what Sarah saw in him all along." He extended his hand out to Jack. "So, we're in this together then, for the sake of John, Sarah Jane and their child."

Jack shook Harry's hand. "Absolutely. You can count on me."


	33. Chapter 33

Harry and Jack sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in his own thoughts. Finally, Jack got up and opened Harry's fridge, pulling out two beers, then changing his mind and pouring himself a glass of water. "Now," he said, "what aren't you telling us about Picadilly this afternoon? I know you well enough to know you're hiding something."

Harry hesitated, then after a moment resigned himself to telling Jack the truth. "First, you'll have to swear to me that you won't interfere once you find out, no matter what I tell you."

Now Jack hesitated. "What are you afraid I'm going to do?"

"Try and stop what has to be done."

"What has to be done, Harry?" Jack asked darkly.

"Swear to me first that you won't do anything."

Jack thought about it for a moment. He'd never seen Harry so serious. "All right, I swear."

"Lavinia is going to assassinate Dewhurst this afternoon while he's making an announcement to the general population."

Jack sat down heavily. "Wow," he said. "I didn't know the old bird had it in her."

Harry would have laughed if the situation hadn't of been so dire. "We have to stop him before he gets any more powerful than he already is."

"And you thought I'd try and stop you? After witnessing ..." He motioned towards the still unconscious John. "that? I agree, the man's a menace when he's not in charge. I'd hate to think what he'll be like when he is."

Harry let out his breath. "That's a relief to hear. I can't tell you how glad I am that you understand. We simply can't stand by hoping the Doctor will return and fix it all for us, John or not."

"Agreed. But are you sure you want to go out there alone? I know Dewhurst, maybe it'd be better if I went instead of you." Jack hoped Harry would take him up on the offer. The worst that would happen to him is that he'd be exposed; in this environment, Harry could actually be killed, and that was likely to be permanent, even if they managed to set things right.

"Sorry old chap, but we need you to stay here and look after John. Besides, Dewhurst is out to get you, remember? You'd be arrested on sight."

"Good point," Jack said. He looked over at John. He didn't much like the idea of leaving either one of them on their own, but there was nothing to be done for it. "OK, but you be careful," Jack said. "If I have to come break **you** out, it's going to be a lot more difficult."

* * *

><p>It was long before they actually entered the Tomb of Rassilon that the Doctor sensed their presence - at least three Time Lords, possibly more. Not-Liz's words came back to him: "There are five of you now." Five. So here he was lamenting the fact that he didn't have long in this regeneration, and the next one was already gone!<p>

What in Rassilon's name was going on in his life?

It occurred to him that Sarah Jane hadn't mentioned a fifth incarnation; that couldn't mean anything good. Either she'd gotten disgusted and left him, as all the others did, or the worst had happened, and she was ... Because he could only think of one reason that he would ever leave her behind, and … he shook his head, putting it out of his mind before Sarah could notice.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the final staircase and opened the door into the cavernous tomb.

"Ah," his first regeneration said, "there you are at last. What kept you?"

Any notion of sentimentality immediately flew out of his head. "What kept me? Of all the confounded arrogance!"

"Never mind, never mind, you can tell me later," the First Doctor said. "Come and take a look at this." He pointed to an inscription on an obelisk in the center of the room.

Sarah Jane looked about as she entered the room. Before she could see him, an elderly man called out to the Doctor and startled her, causing her to jump. She could only assume he was either another Gallifreyan or someone else who had been kidnapped out of his time and brought here. The Doctor and this man obviously knew each other, because they were now wrapped up in some scientific mumbo jumbo sort of conversation, just babbling on and totally ignoring her. She decided to step back and see what happened next. Then she spotted a young woman about her age and walked over to her.

"Tegan," the woman said, extending her hand.

"Sarah," she answered as she took it. She was a bit leary of the woman. She guessed that she was talking to someone from Earth, because she was smiling at her and wasn't the least bit prim, proper or overbearing. Not that Sarah had ever met a Time Lady, but the Doctor did describe them to her, and she was glad to be spared the experience - at least so far, anyway.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah," Tegan said. "Is that the Doctor too?" she asked, pointing to the Third Doctor.

"Yes, that's the Doctor. Look here, do you mean to say that older fellow is the Doctor as well?"

"Yes, the first one, apparently. Seems to have been crankier then."

She was relieved to hear that it was a Doctor before her time. "Then? You are his companion aren't you?"

"Him? Oh no," Tegan said, as though Sarah had suggested she swim from Earth to the moon. "I guess mine's the Fifth. Did you come along with him, then?" she asked, motioning towards the Third.

Sarah's heart stopped. This was a companion that came after her. This woman was a part of the the Doctor's present life, a life she herself had no knowledge or part of. She bit her finger and then shook her head 'no' in answer. "I didn't come here with him. I did meet back up with him here, though. He's part of my past now, you see. I was brought here by some device or another against my will."

"The little fellow is just fine, thank you," a man Sarah Jane recognized from her U.N.I.T research to be the Second Doctor bellowed as he entered the tomb - along with a much older Brigadier.

The Brigadier, who, along with the Second Doctor, had been plucked from a U.N.I.T. anniversary party in 1995, was stunned to see Sarah Jane standing before him, as young as she must have been twenty years before. Was this Sarah Jane Smith, the young woman still travelling with the Doctor, or Sarah Jane Tinker? She looked so young, and all at once, he felt so old.

"Brigadier?" Sarah and Tegan both called out to the Brig at the same time. Sarah was happy to see him. But when he drew closer, she realized that this was an older version of the Brigadier and she wondered if he might give her away. She wasn't sure what she would do if the Doctor found out she was married now.

Ever the military man and diplomat, the Brigadier weighed his options. He'd been around the Doctor enough to know that it would be quite risky to tell her about her future. Was she already with child? Certainly he couldn't tell her what would happen to her husband. He decided to play it safe. "Good heavens! It's Miss Smith, isn't it! And Miss Jovanka." He shook their hands, trying to behave as though Sarah Jane was just another person he was meeting on an adventure.

The Third Doctor heard the Brigadier's voice and tore himself away from the inscription. "Lethbridge Stewart! Oh my dear fellow, how very nice to see you again!"

"Great heavens, you as well! Though I can't say it's nice to be here. Do you know I was enjoying a very nice -"

But the Doctor wasn't thinking about whatever it was that the Brig was enjoying. He found himself looking into his friend's face, lined with age compared to the man he'd just seen this morning, and thinking of his own mortality. "If you'll excuse me, old chap," he said, making an excuse before he got too emotional, "we have a very important inscription to translate, and I'm afraid they'll get it all wrong without me."

The Brigadier walked back to Sarah Jane and Tegan. "Typical," he said. "Absolutely typical."

"I know. Drag you through time and space without so much as a by-your-leave, then leave you out when things get interesting."


	34. Chapter 34

When John awoke, it was pitch black. Still groggy, he stretched and rubbed his eyes, then felt around for the lamp at his bedside. Feeling only the arm of Harry's couch, he remembered where he was and started feeling for the torchiere he knew was next to the sofa. He couldn't find it, and he stood up, feeling something heavy by his foot.

Finally he found the light and pulled the tiny chain, filling the room with a dull light.

He looked down to see what he had shoved with his foot and realized that it was Harry. "Wake up, Harry," he said, wondering why Harry had slept on the floor next to the sofa rather than in his own bed. When Harry didn't move, John nudged him with his foot. "Come on, Harry, wake up and go to sleep."

When he nudged him, Harry rolled over and it took almost a full moment for John to realize that his head should not be twisted that far around. A moment later he realized the thick red line across his throat wasn't an ascot, it was a slash, and the warm stickiness soaking through John's socks was Harry's blood.

John stared, his mouth open, trying to scream, but no sound came forth. He backed away, finally managing to utter, "Jack…"

But when he turned around he saw Jack seated at the table, as though nothing were wrong except for the empty dead look in his staring eyes and the spike protruding from his mouth.

His heart pounding, John frantically tried to figure out what to do. They were dead. He knew they were dead. There was no-one he could call for help; Torchwood was in charge, and he knew that they had done this.

But he was alive.

Why was he alive?

He spun around, searching for any sign that they were still there, ready to take him back. Had he just woken up before they could finish what they'd planned?

He ran out of Harry's house, out onto the street, and immediately realized that all around him were the dead, victims of Torchwood, all lying where they'd fallen.

He began to run, not knowing where he was going, just running, running, until he couldn't run anymore, collapsing against a lamppost knowing he hadn't seen a single live person, just the dead, more and more of them, closer and closer as he ran and couldn't escape them.

He stood against the lamppost, staring at the dead all around him. He thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he spun around. Nothing. All of them dead, but he was alive. More movement, from the other side. This time he was sure he saw it. One of the victims, moving, staring at him, pointing at him.

Then another.

And another.

In moments they were all pointing at him, all getting up, coming at him from everywhere, cutting off all escape with their accusing eyes and grabbing hands. They surged at him and for just a moment he thought that they were all him, even though they all looked different, a writhing mass moaning, "It's you, it's you, it's you," over and over as they got closer and closer.

John tried to climb the lamppost but the moment he turned his back they were on him, and he screamed as they began to –

* * *

><p>Jack jumped when he heard John cry out. He was relieved when he ran to his side to see that John was only having a nightmare, bad as it was. He shook him gently. "Hey buddy, wake up, it's OK, you're fine. Come on John, you're just dreaming, wake up."<p>

John sat straight up, trying to figure out where he was. He saw Jack, and a flat that was... Harry's? He tried to remember what was happening. Was he still … no, Jack was telling him to wake up. Was he sleeping? He looked at his hands, shaking, but intact, then at Jack.

"Hey guy, you alright? Must have been a heck of a nightmare you were having there," Jack smiled at him.

John nodded, still trying to claw his way awake. "Jack? I feel fuzzy."

Jack gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's OK John, you ah, you got a little, well, OK, you got a lot upset and Harry had to give you something to calm you down."

"He drugged me?"

"Yeah buddy, but he was only taking care of you, you were really upset. He was afraid you were going to make yourself sick."

"Good old Harry," John murmured, "always taking care of me." Suddenly he remembered his dream. "Where's Harry?"

"He went to attend a speech," Jack said. "Don't worry." But Jack was worried enough for the both of them.

* * *

><p>Lavinia Smith was completely calm as she positioned herself in the staging area that had been carefully chosen for her. It was the one place that would not only give her the best angle, but it was also where she was least likely to be noticed.<p>

She smiled sweetly as she made her way through the unsuspecting throng of people. They barely noticed the elderly woman with her unnecessary cane carefully making her way by. She hadn't stopped until she noticed the blue refuse bin that was her marker. She set out the cane that also served as a chair and sat quietly. She knew she had at least another fifteen minutes before the speech would start.

She let her mind wander for a moment. She thought about her beloved brother Eddie, and how different her life would have been had he survived. She grew bitter, as she always did when she thought about how cruel and unjust life had been for her. Why was it that people as evil and vicious as Horace Dewhurst lived and thrived while good people like Eddie and his wife died so young and so senselessly, leaving those who loved them so alone?

She thought back to what that young man Tinker had been telling her, about an alternate world in which things were different. So different. She knew, of course, that he was completely mad. But there was just a tiny part of her that hoped that somewhere, somehow, there really was a better world than this.

Today she would strike back. She would stop Dewhurst in his tracks and he'd never harm anyone again. This was her chance to even things out. She paused when she heard applause. She looked over at the dias and saw that several people were now standing there at attention. She took one last around her. All eyes were on the the speaker who was introducing Dewhurst. She eased the gun out of her coat liner, and took aim.


	35. Chapter 35

Back in the Tomb of Rassilon, the Doctor(s) had managed a rough translation of the writing on the obelisk.

"So that's what it's all about," his second incarnation said. "I never dreamed -"

"It changes nothing," the First Doctor interrupted. "Absolutely nothing. We lower the force field, get the young fellow back from Gallifrey, and all go home. This doesn't concern us. It mustn't!"

His tone attracted the attention of the companions. "What does the inscription say?" Tegan asked.

"Yes, I'd quite like to know as well," the Brigadier insisted.

"Yes, we've all been through a great deal to get here," Sarah said with more than a bit of frustration.

The First Doctor pointed to his successor. "You, tell them."

"It's old high Gallifreyan," the Second Doctor said, wandering over to where they were standing, "the ancient language of the Time Lords. Not many people understand it these days, but -"

"Fortunately I do," all three Doctors said in unison. They then proceeded to give each other disdainful looks.

"All very interesting, Doctors," the Brigadier said, his patience wearing thin, "but what does it **say**?"

The Third Doctor began reading before either of his other selves could jump in. "This is the tomb of Rassilon, where Rassilon lies in eternal sleep."

His predecessor continued. "It also says that anyone who's gotten this far has passed a number of dangers and shown great courage and determination," he said proudly. "What does this bit mean?"

"To lose is to win," the Third Doctor read, "and he who wins shall lose."

"I know what it **SAYS**," the second Doctor snapped, "what does it **MEAN**?"

The First Doctor ignored them both. "It also promises that whoever takes the ring from Rassilon's hand and puts it on shall get the reward he seeks."

"What reward," Sarah asked.

"Immortality," he answered.

The Brigadier furrowed his brow. "What, live forever? Never die?"

"That is what the word means, young man," the First Doctor said.

"But that's impossible," Sarah said.

"Apparently not," the Third Doctor said pensively. Oh, he knew that this was a bad idea. But for a moment, just a fleeting moment, he thought about what it would mean if he could have that for Sarah - for her to live forever, to never die.

The Second Doctor explained, "It seems Rassilon possesses it now, and is willing to share it with whoever takes the ring."

"Thank you, Gentlemen, that is exactly what I needed to know," the Master said, emerging from the shadows holding the Tissue Compression Eliminator, his deadly weapon of choice. "I came here to help you. A little unwillingly, but I came. My services were scorned, my help refused. Now I shall help myself … to immortality."

* * *

><p>John tried to take his mind off the dream, still feeling fingers clawing at him. Instead he forced himself to concentrate on the almost completed sensor, painstakingly soldering wires and attaching jumpers. Finally, he sat, or rather fell, back on the couch. "Done," he said.<p>

"Great," Jack said. "Now what **is** it?"

"I told you," he said. "It detects temporal fluctuations so that we can know whether we're getting close to the source of all this. Anything that alters the sort of 'distance' between our universe and -" Suddenly it beeped, a high-pitched squeal, then a steady "pip-pip-pip". "Something's happened," he said.

Jack nodded, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "That reminds me," he said, "I wanted to listen to the radio, it could be very important to our future." He got up and turned the radio on, then tuned around until he found the right station.

"...receive further information. Again," a voice said. "For those of you who are just tuning in, today's Domestic Policy speech in Picadilly Square, said to have contained new movement and residency restrictions, has been cancelled. We have no official word yet, but it's been reported that shots were fired a short while ago. Please stay tuned for updates as the situation unfolds."

Jack frowned. "I don't like this John, I don't like it at all. Do you feel well enough to stand? I think we may have to leave here very quickly."

"But Harry was very clear that we should stay here, Jack," John said, putting his shoes back on.

"Harry may need us right now, John. Look, if you need help I've got a shoulder just waiting for you, feel free to lean on it." Jack bent down slightly in front of the couch.

"Need us? Why? Is Harry in trouble?" He leaned on Jack as he stood, waiting for just a moment for the room to stop spinning as his blood pressure equalized and trying to push back the image of Harry dead on the living room floor. "What's going on, anyway? Wait a minute, they said shots were fired. Jack, you don't think Harry's been shot, do you?"

"Probably not," Jack said. "Hopefully he wasn't anywhere near it." He weighed how much to tell John. He was still a little fragile, and Jack didn't want to scare him. On the other hand, he needed to understand the urgency with which they needed to move. If Harry had been compromised, he wasn't the only one in danger. "But he was on his way there and he may not be aware of what's going on right now. We have to go warn him, OK?"

"Um, sure, OK. But there's going to be police everywhere." John pulled on his coat and watched as Jack checked to see if the coast was clear. "I don't like this," he said, dark images still swirling in his mind like sharks just waiting for a scrap of food to drop into the water.

"Don't worry, I'm going to leave you in the car while I take care of it. I can handle myself, but you need to stay still and rest as much as possible."

John slammed the car door as he sat down and waited for Jack to get in. "I'm not an invalid," he said irritably.

Jack looked over at John in surprise. The mouse finally found his voice and he was making himself very clear about his feelings. "Relax John, I never said you were. It's just that you've been drugged and it's going to take a few hours before you don't feel groggy anymore."

John nodded. It was true that he just didn't feel like … himself. There was something nagging at him, like sandpaper in his shoes, and he didn't like it, not one bit. "So we're just going to go down to Picadilly, where there's been a shooting, and wander up to the Deputy Director of MI-5 without anybody noticing us, is that the plan?" He rubbed his eyes, trying to make the feeling go away. After his dream, the idea of being in crowd of people was the absolute last thing he wanted to do.

"Man," Jack laughed, "wouldn't it be great if it were just that simple? As it happens, I have papers that will get me past security without a problem. Once I'm there I'll have to locate Harry and the two of us can talk and decide what to do next. After that, I'll come back to you."

"If they don't arrest you the minute they see your papers," John said morosely, and turned on the radio.

"We now have new information," the announcer was saying, "that Director Dewhurst has, in fact, died as a result of gunshot wounds, and the shooter has been identified as 58 year old Lavinia Smith..."

"Jack, did you -"

"Quiet," Jack snapped.

"... and we have further word that Harold Sullivan, Deputy Director of MI-5, has been arrested on suspicion of treason."

"Jack, we have to help them!"

Jack pursed his lips and nodded. "I believe that we're on our way to do just that, John."

"I don't understand," John said, "why would they arrest Lavinia for something like this? Jack," he said, turning to face him, "you don't think she actually... I mean, she's running an underground, but … I mean, Lavinia?"

"She did what she had to do John. Action had to be taken to stop Dewhurst. They couldn't let him gain any more power, he was growing more and more dangerous by the day. No one knows what can happen next in this crazy mixed up version of life."

"So you think she did it."

"No, I know she did it. Harry told me about it and I thought it was a great idea. Look, all I ask is that you trust Harry and me, John, especially when you don't think you can or when we do something you don't approve of. All of our lives depend on it."

"Wait a minute," John said, "you knew that she was going to do that, and you let her? And you let Harry walk right into that?" In the back of his head, he wanted to ask, 'Whose side are you on?' but the implications were too much to deal with. Again he felt like the world was beginning to close in on him, as though Jack were driving him back into hell. "Why did you do that, Jack," he asked quietly, trying not to shake.

"First of all, I couldn't stop Lavinia if I wanted to, secondly I approve wholeheartedly of what she did. You have no idea how much power Dewhurst was going after. As for Harry, he's doing what he has to and he needs this. It's his moment to prove himself and I'm not standing in his way."

"Prove himself?" John exploded, using his worry for Harry as a way of distracting himself. "He's going to get himself killed! And if you're not going to stand in his way, then I certainly am!"

"No you're not, John, and I'll tell you why. This world has become a very dangerous place and it needs people like Lavinia and Harry right now. They're standing up for what they believe in and that's the only thing that's going to stop the power mongers like Dewhurst who are taking advantage of people's fears and weakness.

"Lavinia and Harry aren't afraid to fight, they know they have to set an example so others will follow them. I know it's heroics, but they are heroes. What do you want to do, John, have everyone stand around and wait for the Doctor to rush in and save the day while the world falls apart? I'm not willing to take a chance like that, even if you are."

John listened to what he was saying, his own fear and weakness soaking him like a blanket of sweat. The Doctor wasn't going to come and solve their problems; that much was clear.

He thought about the Doctor, about what it must be like for people to always look to him to solve their problems. How horrible it must be to face that kind of pressure, day in, day out, to be responsible for whether people live or die, to know that if you fail, all of those lives would be lost.

But John knew that something needed to be done, and if the Doctor wasn't going to do it, then Jack was right, everyday heroes needed to step up. But why did those heroes have to be the people that he cared about, the people that he loved? Why couldn't this whole mess be about other people? Why couldn't it have nothing to do with him?

He squeezed his eyes shut but couldn't shake the image of all of the dead pointing at him. No, like it or not this was the world he found himself in. "Well, if they're going to be heroes," he finally said, "we'd better get down there and help them."

But even as Jack gunned the engine, John sat, and thought, and trembled inside.


	36. Chapter 36

The Master's announcement that he was claiming Rassilon's immortality seemed almost to annoy the incarnations of the Doctor present to hear it more than anything else.

"Out of the question," the First Doctor said.

The Third Doctor, who was the only one of the three of him who knew that this was, in fact, the Master, felt it necessary to elaborate, if only to distract him from noticing the extra Time Lord in the room - the one that Sarah Jane carried. "You're hardly a suitable candidate."

"For anything," his predecessor added, joining in on the spirit of the thing.

The Master pointed the Tissue Compression Eliminator at the Doctors. "The decision is scarcely yours," he said, with a malice born of obsession. "I killed you once. It was never enough for me." He backed up slightly to get a wider field of view. "How gratifying to do it three times over!"

In fact, he was so intent on the idea of what he was about to do that he didn't realize exactly what he was backing into. "How nice to see you again," the Brigadier said, landing a solid blow to his chin that sent him careening to the ground. Brig smiled, resisting the urge to rub his throbbing knuckles and wishing all of the Doctor's enemies were that easy to incapacitate.

The Third Doctor didn't dare exhale; he didn't know whether the Master had sensed Sarah Jane's baby or not, and in any case, it pointed out to him the fact that if any other Time Lords were to arrive on the scene, this could get out of hand, and quickly.

* * *

><p>Jack wasn't happy as he removed the screws that held metal bars over the same door he'd used to rescue John a few months earlier, back before the world had turned upside down.<p>

The entrance hadn't been used by anyone but him since the 1928 Thames Flood, and he knew that it was unguarded. But what made him unhappy was the fact that John was right behind him; there had been too many suspicious stares when he'd parked the car to leave him behind. Despite wishful thinking, Torchwood hadn't suddenly collapsed with Dewhurst's death. If anything, it was clamping down even harder.

But having John with him made things a bit difficult - or rather, potentially difficult. The most pressing matter was the fact that he might have to act quickly. While he knew that John had acquitted himself well on that whole D'Itarka affair, Jack didn't like the idea of trying to rescue Harry and Lavinia with him in tow. The John Tinker in this universe had been detained and tortured at a mental health facility far from Torchwood. The man behind him now had been detained and tortured right here, even if he had been blocking it out of his memory ever since.

So between the two of them, only Jack knew that he was, in fact, leading John back into the lion's den - and that this had "disaster" written all over it.

John, for his part, was doing his level best not to be a problem. He followed every instruction Jack gave him to the letter, and he didn't make a sound.

But even without Jack telling him, he was beginning to suspect that he'd been here before. As they worked their way down several stories of stairwells, the air around them got colder, the atmosphere more dank and gloomy. This part of Torchwood had always been more of a "dungeon" type of atmosphere - like the cells down in the catacombs of the Torchwood 3 hub, it was dark and foreboding and empty except for echoes of what had gone before.

Or at least, it was in **their** London. Jack turned a corner and what he saw shocked him. Instead of rows upon rows of empty cells, he saw cells overcrowded with what he could only assume were "political" prisoners. He sucked in his breath. To arrest so many so-called enemies of society was not only a testament to the height that Dewhurst's power had gotten to, it was a clear sign of his madness. He held his arm out to stop John. "Sorry, we're going to have to change our plans a bit, pal," he whispered.

"What do you suggest?" John whispered back.

"Let's find some uniforms so we can fit in better." He headed over to the laundry room, marvelling at how predictable the place was, even in an alternate timeline. He handed John a uniform, then started putting one on himself.

John took the uniform, and for just a moment he caught a scent from it. Nothing specific, just a combination of detergent and sterilizer that seemed to activate his mind. For a moment he saw a flash, felt himself being dragged down the corridor - and then in an instant it was gone, pushed back again. He swallowed hard and started pulling on the coveralls.

A few moments later as he was inspecting John, Jack thought that he could use a little levity. Those deep brown eyes of his looked pretty shaken, and Jack knew why. Jack sighed, nothing he could do about it but get them all out of there as soon as possible, and try to lighten the mood. "Hey," he said to John. "Navy blue is a good color for you, it brings out your eyes. In fact, if you weren't already taken, I'd make a pass at you. You know, I can never resist a man in uniform," Jack grinned.

John grinned back uneasily, trying to appreciate the humor. "I'm taken, Jack, if we can ever get this mess cleared up."

"In that case, let's get moving. The sooner we find Harry and Lavinia, the sooner we can get out of here." He held John at arms length, fixing him in his gaze. "Just keep doing as well as you have been and it's almost over."

John nodded, and Jack led him back into the cells, heading for the "High Value Detainees"; certainly Harry and Lavinia would be there, rather than with what Dewhurst would probably have considered the "common rabble."

John followed Jack, trying to look nonchalant, even "in charge" as they walked the corridor between cells pretending they belonged there. There was a feeling of dampness, a humidity that seemed wrong somehow, as though it should be colder, but it wasn't because of the seething mass of humanity around them. It was a dampness that seeped into him, bringing a sharp musty smell, like a basement neglected too long, tinged with the slightest hint of decay. Around him he smelled sweat, fear, and desperation, and somewhere in the back of his head he thought it was overwhelming the scent of dried blood that he should have been smelling.

He knew that all of this was just pushing him to remember, and he fought it, knowing all the time that the more he tried not to think about it the worse it would be, like being told not to think of an elephant.

Because his mind had already made the connection. He was worried about all of this making him remember; that meant that there was something here for him to remember.

For a moment he imagined that he saw a figure at the end of the corridor, waiting for him. "Good afternoon," it said, and though John knew it wasn't real, he still felt that terror that had come every time he had heard that voice, his captor's voice, through the hood, or in the darkness, or while he'd tried to get even a few moments of sleep.

The figure was impossibly tall, towering over them, and John told himself that it wasn't real, he wasn't helpless, that he could face it. "Leave me alone," he imagined himself saying. "We're going to save Harry and Lavinia, and you can't stop us."

"Oh can't I?" it said, suddenly on top of them, pushing them back. "I can do anything I want to you, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"There is," John said, feeling himself shake. "I can … I can..." But he couldn't finish the sentence, feeling hands around his throat and -

Jack heard John whimper slightly and turned to see what was happening.


	37. Chapter 37

Jack grabbed John and pulled him into a nearby supply closet. John stared ahead blankly as if Jack wasn't there, not even blinking as Jack waved a hand in front of his face and snapped his fingers. Jack's concern grew into fear. "John, what's wrong with you," he asked, gently tapping his face in preparation to literally slap him out of it.

John snapped to awareness, the scene still playing out in his mind like some alternate soundtrack. He could see Jack standing in front of him, fear clearly etched on his face, and he knew that this was real. But he could still feel the monstrous hands on his throat, still see the massive figure towering over him, still hear that voice telling him, "You are mine."

As he had done so many times in the last few months, John mentally repeated what had become a mantra for him: 'I can't do this now, I can't do this now, I can't do this now...' The images receded, even though he felt like his body was tingling from all the adrenaline in his system. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "I'm all right. I'm sorry. I'll … I'll be OK."

"You want to tell me what just happened," Jack demanded.

John shrank back a little at his tone. "I just … it's not important. It won't happen again, I promise. Just … it's not important," he pleaded.

"Hey," Jack said, softening as much as he could under the circumstances. He put a reassuring arm around John's shoulder. This is exactly what he'd been worried about. "I'm not mad at you John, I'm worried about you." It would be a couple of decades before mental health professionals recognized that PTSD could cause schizophrenia-like hallucinations that seemed completely real to their sufferers, but Jack had seen it enough to recognize the signs. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

John nodded uneasily. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I can't keep … I can't hide behind something I can't even remember." He took a deep breath. "We just … we need to find Harry and Lavinia."

Jack took a long look at him, trying to decide if it would be better to take him back out into the hallway, where he'd be hit by stimulus after stimulus, or leave him here in the closet, where he might still have problems, and where he could easily be stumbled upon by actual guards. "OK," he said, deciding it was better to keep him close, "but if you need to stop or anything, let me know. You can't lose it now, Harry and Lavinia are depending on us."

John shook his head, his eyes still wide. "I won't, I promise."

"Good, now let's get moving." Jack headed back out of the room and gestured to John. "This way, they're both bound to be in this area somewhere."

John nodded and followed him, trying as hard as he could to focus on every little detail of what was happening around him, trying to keep everything else at bay.

It wasn't long before Jack found Harry, locked up by himself instead of with five other men the way the others were. Jack smiled at him. "Well, well, how do you rate special accommodations?"

Harry looked up at him and walked up to the bars as close as he could get. "You've got your nerve coming here. Did you come here to enjoy your victory," he growled viciously at him. Then he spotted John behind him. He reached out and tried to belt Jack with all his might.

Jack saw it coming and pulled back. "What was that for?" he asked.

"John, you can't trust him," Harry cried out. He managed to grab Jack tightly by the arm and held fast to him. "Get away from him and this place as fast as you can. Hurry, I don't know how long I can hold him this way."

John looked at him like he was barking mad. "Harry, what's wrong with you? Jack's on our side, remember?"

Jack, meanwhile, was trying to wrest his from of Harry's grip. "Keep your voice down," he hissed. "You want to get the real guards in here? We're here to break you out. I couldn't leave John in the car, we were getting too many looks." Finally he broke Harry's grip.

Jack slipped a small tool out of his back pocket and carefully slid it into the lock on Harry's cell door. "I'll have you out in a jiffy," he said as he twisted the tool slowly.

"I suppose you think I'll fall for this charade of yours, that way your people can kill me as I escape. Clever of you seeing how John won't know about it until it's too late. Tell me, what do you have in mind for him? More torture I suppose until he confess to being the Doctor whether he is or not," Harry spat at him.

John stepped in. "Harry, Jack has been with me since you left. He's with us." He looked down the corridor. "Please, Harry, we have to hurry."

"Harry," Jack said, struggling with the lock, "do you know where they're holding Lavinia? I figured she'd be with the HVTs."

Harry paused, looking straight into Jack's eyes. "You really don't know then," he asked him in almost a whisper.

For a moment there was a twinge in Jack's eyes, and he sighed.

"No, he **doesn't** know," John said intensely. "I told you, he's with us. Where is she? We're not leaving without her too."

Jack stopped fiddling with the lock and put a hand on John's shoulder. "That's not what he means," he said quietly.

John's brow furrowed. "But … then what …?"

"Everything had been planned out to the letter," Harry said. "She had the perfect vantage point, nobody suspected her, and she got off a clean, beautiful shot. But the moment Dewhurst was hit, the entire square was closed down and there just wasn't anywhere for her to go. It was tighter than anyone had imagined it might be. Even Lord Wentworth over there, who's been part of her network since Dewhurst ruined him, thought that at least one of their escape routes would be clear."

He motioned to the cell across the way, where a scruffy bearded man lay still on his cot. John took a closer look. "Cobby!" He turned back to Harry and John. "I know him, he helped me when I first woke up here." He went to the bars. "Cobby, it's me, Nobody."

"It's no good, John," Harry said quietly. "He died about an hour ago from the beating they gave him for trying to provide a diversion for Lavinia. I begged them to let me help him, but Dewhurst's replacement seems to be even more sadistic than he was."

Hot tears stung John's eyes. "And … Lavinia?"

Harry paused. "She was killed on the spot." A small, reluctant smile crossed his face. "Defiant till the end."

John didn't say anything. All of this had happened, but it had seemed dreamlike somehow. Now, with this, it seemed terribly, horribly real.

"Voila," Jack said as the door opened, his usual smile nowhere in evidence. "Let's get going before anything else happens. Harry if we're stopped, just act like a prisoner, got it?"

"I don't think he's going to have any trouble with that."

All three of them heard the voice. All three of them recognized it. Harry recognized it as belonging to Dewhurst's replacement. Jack recognized it as belonging to Fletcher Rainsford, head of "special projects" for Torchwood Five in New Delhi.

John recognized it as belonging to his nightmares. He turned and was surprised to see a man. Just a man, average height and build, not at all the huge monster he had imagined bearing down on him, squeezing the life out of him, just a few minutes ago, before Jack dragged him into the cupboard. Yet just that one sentence was enough to send his mind into overdrive, and he stood frozen, not even seeing, much less comprehending, that this man held a gun, and was motioning him and Jack into the cell with Harry.

"This is all a misunderstanding," Jack smiled charmingly. "If you'll just let me reach into my coat pocket, I can produce a paper that will explain what's going on here."

"You don't need to explain anything, Captain Harkness. I've heard all about how you've gone rogue. How good of you to turn yourself in. And to bring my little toy with you. How considerate."

John just stared, frozen, not even breathing.


	38. Chapter 38

The Fifth Doctor looked around President Borusa's study; the guards had insisted he was there, and yet he was nowhere to be found. One more strange thing to add to his collection of things that didn't make any sense.

Even before he'd used the Master's teleport to transport himself back to the Capitol, the situation had been getting more and more bizarre. First there was the meeting with his first self and Susan, then this business with the Castellan.

True, he had been the one to discover the homing beacon in the teleport the Castellan had given the Master, and that did look suspicious. But when the Castellan had been discovered with the Black Scrolls of Rassilon … well, that was just plain odd. He'd known the Castellan for years; dabbling in the Dark Times just wasn't in his character.

No, something else was going on here, he thought, absently plucking a string on a large harp in the corner as he stared at a portrait of Rassilon playing the instrument. He heard the scrape of stone on stone and realized that he was onto something. Within a few moments he had worked out that the key to the secret entrance lay in playing the tune in the portrait.

Now he was getting somewhere. He only wished that he'd discovered it before the Castellan had been killed "trying to escape".

* * *

><p>Borusa heard the door to the control room open. Now it was time for the endgame to begin. "Welcome, Doctor," he said. Now he would play his final hand, and deal with this renegade once and for all.<p>

"Lord President," the Doctor said, as though nothing were wrong.

"You show very little surprise," Borusa said. "Can it be that you suspected me?"

"Not at first. Your little charade fooled me for a while."

"Yes, it was rather neat, wasn't it?" Borusa wondered just how far he could take this. "Such a pity about the Castellan. But then, I needed someone to use as a diversion."

"Oh, Borusa," genuine concern in his voice. "What's happened to you?"

The Doctor's arrogance infuriated him. Here was the Doctor, a renegade, a … **deviant**, lecturing him, the Lord High President? How dare he? "Do you know how long I have ruled Gallifrey, Doctor, both openly and behind the scenes?"

"But you've done great service. It was only right that you should become President."

"President? How long before I must retire, my work half done?" How long, he thought, would it be before the Doctor stepped back into the picture? He'd already been in the Matrix once. It certainly wouldn't be long before everything was revealed. And that could **not** be allowed to happen. All of Gallifreyan culture depended on it. "If I could continue..."

"Oh, I understand. You want to be President through all your remaining regenerations."

"You underestimate my ambition, Doctor. I shall be President eternal. And rule forever!"

"Immortality? That's impossible, even for a Time Lord."

"Rassilon achieved it," Borusa said, trying not to let on that he'd already started to put himself into the same category as Rassilon. "Timeless, perpetual bodily regeneration. True immortality. Rassilon lives. He cannot die. He is immortal."

Borusa paused for things to sink in. "Immortal, Doctor. Before Rassilon was bowed, he left clues for his successor, who he knew would follow him. Oh, I have discovered much, Doctor. This game control room, the casket with the scrolls, the Coronet of Rassilon."

"But not the final secret."

"The secret of immortality, Doctor? It lies in the dark tower, in the Tomb of Rassilon itself. But there are many dangers. Many traps."

"So you sent me to the zone to deal with them for you."

"Oh, I gave you companions to help," Borusa said, trying not to smile too broadly at just how far off the Doctor actually was, "an old enemy to fight. It's a game within a game." Borusa turned to face the Doctor. 'And you don't even know what game you're playing,' he thought.

"Only you've botched it, haven't you! One my selves is trapped in the time vortex, endangering my very existence!"

"Oh, you needn't fear, Doctor," Borusa said. "Your temporal stability will be maintained. I need you to serve me."

"Oh, I would not serve you," the Doctor sneered.

There it was, that defiant streak that had always plagued the Doctor, even when he was a student and Borusa was his teacher. He'd tolerated it then because he had to. But no longer. Once he'd intercepted that message meant for the Doctor, once he'd seen that the Doctor had - inwardly he shuddered, but he was careful not to show any outward sign - had fathered a child with that **human**, then he knew he had to act, and act fast, before the message could reach its intended recipient.

Because that defiant streak, that refusal to be a true part of Gallifreyan society, was the reason the Doctor must never know the truth: that Time Lords were not, in fact, sterile. And now that he was here, he would be controlled. "You have no choice, Doctor. I wear the Coronet of Rassilon."

"And very fetching it is, too."

How very like the Doctor not to take even this seriously. "It emphasises my will," he said, as though it weren't obvious. "And it allows me to control the minds of other people. You bow down before me, Doctor."

The Doctor slowly knelt on one knee, then both.

Borusa smiled. "Come, Doctor," he said, motioning for him to rise. He'd taken the Doctor out of the space-time continuum to keep the human girl's message from reaching him, but now that he was here, he would be useful. "Time to go, Doctor. My immortality awaits."


	39. Chapter 39

Sarah Jane thought about the man at her feet as she and Tegan bent over the Master and finished tying him up. He was a Time Lord, and that meant he could sense her child. She wondered what his reaction was and if he intended to tell anyone else about it or keep it to himself to use when he thought he had the advantage. This man was dangerous, the Doctor had said so. How could she protect her baby, herself, and John from him if he did try something? She shivered at the thought, yanking the rope that held the Master as tightly as she could. For now at least, he wasn't going anywhere. She'd get the Doctor to help her protect her family when this nasty business was all over.

For his part, as the Master regained consciousness, he realized that he'd missed his window for escape, probably by seconds. Instead he stayed still, hoping to find a way to escape his bonds. But something was bothering him. Something almost more important that the current state of affairs: the human girl tying him up, the same one he'd seen with the Third Doctor. He'd felt something strange that first time, but now he was certain. Confused, but certain.

How could she possibly be pregnant with a Time Lord? 'That dog,' he thought. 'He pretends to be so proper, so correct. But he's still the iconoclast he always was.' More to the point, however, was the fact that it was even possible. He could easily believe that the Time Lords had been lied to about being sterile for millions of years. Or was it the combination of Time Lords and humans that was the secret? Perhaps he should take himself a human wife...

But first, he'd have to get out of this predicament.

Meanwhile, the Third Doctor pushed the last of several buttons, changing the stream of neutral particles that filled the actuation tube for the force field so that it ran outwards, rather than inwards. He turned to his other selves. "Well, I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow, so the TARDIS should be free of the force field now." On the one hand, he was glad to be one step closer to being through with this whole business. On the other hand, every person who entered the chamber was one more person to discover Sarah Jane's "condition".

His predecessor nodded in acknowledgement, unaware of his ambivalence. "I'll try to get through to the Capitol," he said, walking over to a nearby communicator.

* * *

><p>Harry watched as the blood drained out of John's face and his pupils dilated. He knew a fight-or-flight response when he saw one, and he didn't like how this could end. "John, you need to be calm," he said. For a moment he thought of how he'd felt watching Lord Wentworth slowly succumb, helpless to stop it. But Wentworth was a stranger, and if all of this had done nothing else, it had showed him that despite any differences he may have had, John, and Sarah, and even, heaven help him, Jack, were family. He couldn't let it happen. "Just breathe, John, it's all right," he said, not sure how he could have even remotely meant it.<p>

But it didn't matter. John barely heard him, rooted to the spot, his vision tunneled to see only Rainsford as his mind told him it was a false image, that the reality was darkness and terror and pain.

"My, my, how quiet you are," he heard the man-monster say, eyeing him like a hungry beast. John felt his mouth open but no sound came out, like a nightmare where you see the monster but can't scream or run from it.

"I'm so used to you screaming all the time. Not to worry," Rainsford oozed, "we'll soon find your tongue again. You'll tell me what I want to hear, I can promise you that."

As quickly as John thought to wonder what Rainsford wanted to hear, he felt himself pushing back the flood that threatened to come to the surface. "I can't do this now," he said out loud, his voice shaking. "I can't do this now." Over and over he repeated it. "I can't do this now..."

"You'll just have to make the time to talk to me," Rainsford said, taking John by the arm and running the barrel of his gun down the side of his face, lodging it under John's chin even as he repeated his mantra, seemingly oblivious to what was happening.

Jack's face became an almost animal snarl. "Leave him alone, Rainsford, or I swear, I **will** kill you."

Harry felt a chill at the tone in Jack's voice, but he was more concerned at the pattern of John's respiration and the sweat that was beginning to bead on his forehead. If he couldn't break through the acute stress reaction, psychological shock might lead to circulatory shock. "John," he shouted. "Do something!"

Rainsford ignored both of them, intent on his prize. "Now," he said, turning to them, "I want the two of you to walk back into the cell. I'll deal with you both later. Right now I'm going to take our friend here somewhere we can continue our conversation." He squeezed John's arm roughly, jerking him towards the door. "Isn't that right," he said through gritted teeth.

It was just a moment, but John had heard Jack and Harry, and when it sank in what was about to happen, he snapped. "NO!" he screamed, but not as a victim would. "You're NOT taking me anywhere!" He kicked Rainsford viciously in the closest knee, then made good use of all the extra adrenaline running through his system to pull his captive arm up and around, twisting Rainsford's hand until he had no choice but to let go.

* * *

><p>The Second Doctor tried once more to get a message through. "Calling the capitol, calling the capitol, can you hear me, old fellow?" If it were in his nature, he might consider beginning to get discouraged. "This is the Doctor speaking. Well, one of them. Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Doctor? Is there anybody there?"<p>

Finally, a blond man's face appeared on the screen, matching exactly the First Doctor's description of their fifth incarnation. "Yes, I'm here," he said.

"Oh, there I am. I mean, there you are," the Second Doctor continued. "We've reached the tower, we're all safe, the barriers are down, and the TARDIS is here. And I say, we've made the most extraordinary discovery."

"I know what you have discovered," the Fifth Doctor interrupted. "Do not transmit further. Stay where you are and touch nothing. President Borusa is arriving to take full charge."

"Touch nothing, indeed," the Second Doctor said as he turned from the screen, perturbed. "Who does he think he is?"

"He didn't want us to mention the Ring of Rassilon," the First Doctor said, swinging his walking stick as he stared back towards the companions. "Natural enough."

The Third Doctor rubbed his neck, unsure whether the dread he was feeling was just the idea of President Borusa and Sarah Jane in the same room, or something else. "Something's wrong, you know," he said, deciding that it was, in fact, something else.

"You haven't changed," the Second Doctor laughed. "Still finding menace in your own shadow."

But the First Doctor wasn't taking it so lightly. "I feel the same."

"Well," the Second Doctor said, reconsidering, "we shall soon see, won't we."

The transport tunnel glowed with light, and the Fifth Doctor appeared beside Lord President Borusa, the gems in his coronet glowing a deep purple red.

Tegan stepped towards them, sensing immediately that something wasn't right. "Doctor, are you alright?"

Sarah stared at the man Tegan called Doctor. She saw the concern in Tegan's eyes and the look the Doctor gave her in return. This was it, what she had dreaded all this time. She could see for herself, she'd been replaced. Thinking about how she was now part of his past was one thing, seeing it happen right in front of her, that was another matter entirely.

"Be silent!" Borusa commanded, pointing his staff at the assembled companions. "Be silent all of you! Do not move or speak until I give you leave."


	40. Chapter 40

Jack knew a good distraction when he saw one and the moment John made his move, both he and Harry leapt at Rainsford, slamming him into bars of Wentworth's cell and knocking the gun out of his hand.

Rainsford was no amateur, however, and he threw both of them off with a strength that surprised even Jack.

John dove on the weapon, and a moment later, before Rainsford could react, John was pointing the gun at him, shaking furiously. "Don't move," he said. "I'll do it, you know I will!"

But his voice wasn't nearly as strong as he had hoped, and Rainsford was unfazed. "You won't shoot me," he spat at him.

Jack and Harry looked on, not wanting to make a move and break the spell, lest Rainsford throw them off again and make a grab for John. Harry watched John's medical condition as Jack furiously tried to find a way out for them before reinforcements arrived.

"I know all about you," Rainsford said. "Even the things you don't want to know. You remember the hospital, don't you," he purred. "No one wanted you, no one even knew who you were. You were afraid of your own shadow. Look at the way you're shaking, you won't even be able to hold that gun up in a few seconds, and then I'll make you think the last time was a picnic. I still have devices I haven't tried on you yet." He laughed coldly and started to slowly circle John.

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane couldn't speak or move, but she could still think - in fact, she couldn't stop thinking. Her mind was racing now. She thought about her Doctor, the fourth one, the one she had been so close to.<p>

Where was he, and who was this blond man that was summoned here with Tegan? Could he sense that she was carrying his child? Did his personality change so much that he had gotten over whatever they shared, or did he still have feelings for her? If they managed to escape all this and survive, would she be able to talk to him and ask him all the questions she had been longing to ask? What would he say to her if she could talk to him?

She laughed at herself. It was always the same with the Doctor, no matter what he looked like. So many questions and rarely a straight answer for any of them.

Meanwhile, Borusa looked at the frozen companions. He'd been too slow coming out of the transport; thank Rassilon it was the air hostess who had spoken and not the pregnant one. No matter, they were silenced now, so there was no danger of her telling the Doctor what had happened. And in a few minutes, he'd dispose of them.

"Gentlemen," he said, turning his attention to the gathered Doctors, the fifth incarnation still at his side. "I owe you my thanks. You have served the purpose for which I brought you here."

The Third Doctor had seen Borusa immobilizing the companions, but he was still taken aback. "**You** brought us here?"

"He's after the ring of Rassilon," his predecessor whispered to him. "He wants immortality."

"And you were the one who didn't sense anything was wrong."

"He's a renegade, no better than that villain down there," the First Doctor said, motioning towards the Master.

"We can't allow it, you know," the Second Doctor said.

The Third Doctor felt his anger begin to rise. "The tomb was sealed for the best of reasons."

"And as soon as we're back to our own timestreams," the First Doctor said, "it must be sealed again. Permanently."

The Doctors moved towards him to stop him from getting to the Ring of Rassilon, still on the Time Lord's still finger as he lay, still, on the same platform on which he'd been laid ten million years before.

But Borusa raised his staff, and the mental energy flowing from him formed a wall before them, an impenetrable barrier that even their combined mental energies couldn't pierce.

The Second Doctor looked at the Fifth, still staring blankly at Borusa's side. "Doctor! We need you! Join us!"

"He can't," the First Doctor said. "Some kind of mind lock. Fight it my boy, fight it! Concentrate! We must be one!"

* * *

><p>"I said don't move!" John said, his voice cracking as he turned to match Rainsford's movements. His conviction was wavering. He'd seen him throw off Jack and Harry, and he knew that if Rainsford came at him, he wouldn't be able to stop him. John knew he was no match for him. He started to lower the gun.<p>

"John, don't!" Jack said. "You don't have to be afraid of this guy. You've survived worse."

"No I haven't," John said, the word swirling before him. "I can't..."

"John," Jack insisted, "you have. If you just let yourself remember, you'll know that you can survive anything he can throw at you."

His breath quickened at the idea. "I can't, Jack, I can't remember!" The gun began to shake in his hands.

"Jack, are you mad?" Harry hissed.

"He has to remember," Jack said. "He has to know that he can survive. Think about Sarah Jane, John, and all of the people you care about. You have to be strong."

John thought about Sarah Jane, and the baby that Jack hadn't dared mention within these walls. It had only been three days, and already he felt as if he'd been without them for an eternity. He knew he would do anything to get them back.

And that meant that he couldn't give in.

The sensor in his pocket began to ping, first slowly, then picking up speed. Something was happening. Just a little while longer, he thought. For Sarah and the baby. "Stay back," he said, his voice strangely steady.

Rainsford seemed to sense the change in him, and stopped.

John looked at him, really looked at him, and saw a man. Just a man. And for the first time, he allowed the memories to flow in. Before he met Sarah Jane was still a blank, but he let himself know what Rainsford had done to him; all the pain, the fear, the anguish.

And he had survived.

"It doesn't matter to me who you think I am," he said, "and you can't hurt me anymore." His hands completely steady now. "And you're **not** going to hurt my friends." He motioned toward Harry's now-empty cell. "In there."

* * *

><p>The Fifth Doctor seemed to take strength from somewhere outside of himself, and he slowly walked from Borusa's side to stand next to his other incarnations. The four of them directed all of their mental strength towards the Lord President, and he staggered back slightly, dropping the staff.<p>

"You see, Borusa?" he asked. "Together we're a match for you."

Borusa sneered. "Perhaps. But you will never overcome me."

The Fifth Doctor smiled. "We don't need to. Soon chancellor Flavia will be here with her guards. Or can you overcome the whole high council?"

The Third Doctor's gut wrenched at the thought of Flavia and the Council Guards arriving in the chamber. He needed to get Sarah Jane out of here, and now.

"Why not?" Borusa asked, unaware of his dilemma. "I am Lord President of Gallifrey. And **you** are the notorious renegades. We shall see who is believed."

Before anyone else could react, there was a sudden chill in the air, and a voice boomed, "This is the game of Rassilon."

They turned to see a ghostly image of the Time Lord's face hovering above his tomb. The Fifth Doctor started towards it, but his first incarnation stopped him. "Wait, my boy. That was the voice of Rassilon. It's out of our hands now."

"Who comes to disturb Rassilon?" the voice boomed again.

"I am Borusa, Lord President of Gallifrey."

"Why have you come here?" Rassilon seemed almost curious.

Borusa drew himself up to his full height. "I have come to claim that which is promised."

"You seek immortality?" Rassilon asked, almost amused.

"I do."

"Be sure," he said. "Be very sure. Even now it is not too late to turn back."

"I am sure."

"And these others?" Rassilon asked.

"These are my servants," Borusa said, motioning toward the Doctors.

The huge apparition seemed to turn towards the Doctors. "Is this so?"

"It most certainly is not!" the Third Doctor spat.

"Don't believe him!" the Second Doctor added, just as the Fifth confirmed, "It's nonsense!"

The First Doctor stepped in front of them. "Don't listen to them, Lord Rassilon," he shouted. "President Borusa speaks the truth!"

His other incarnations looked at him as though he'd lost his senses.

"You believe that Borusa deserves the immortality he seeks," Rassilon confirmed.

"Indeed I do," the First Doctor insisted.

"He shall have it." The apparition turned back towards Borusa. "Take the ring. You claim immortality, Lord Borusa. You will not turn back?"

"Never!" Borusa shouted, taking the ring from Rassilon's finger.

"Then put on the ring. Others have come to claim immortality through the ages. it was given to them as it shall be given to you. Your place is prepared, Lord President Borusa."

Borusa greedily thrust the ring on his finger.

All at once an erie siren began blaring. The sound of it filled the air as the faces on the tomb of Rassilon came to life, their eyes darting about in fear.

The ring on the finger of Borusa vanished and reappeared on Rassilon's finger. Borusa held his hands to his head in agony and then vanished too, reappearing in the space on Rassilon's tomb that just moments ago had been empty. His eyes began to dart about, and then along with the others, his face froze and they were lifeless once more.

Silence filled the room.

The Doctor's companions were suddenly unfrozen. They turned to each other in confusion.

Rassilon's face appeared again and turned, smiling to the Doctors.

"And what of you, Doctors," he boomed at them. "Do you claim immortality too?"

"No, no," they exclaimed in unison, stepping back as they did.

"All we ask," the Fifth Doctor said, stepping forward, "is that we be returned to our proper place in time and space."

"It shall be done," answered Rassilon.

"One of us is trapped," the Fifth Doctor said anxiously.

"I know," said Rassilon with a somewhat weary sigh. "He too shall be freed. So shall the one who is bound. His sins shall find their punishment in due time." At that, the Master vanished.

"It is time for your other selves to depart. Let them make their farewells and go. You have chosen wisely Doctor. Farewell," Rassilon said, then vanished.

The Doctors stood quietly for a few seconds. Then the First Doctor started to chuckle to himself.

The Fifth Doctor looked over at him. "Did you know what would happen," he asked, more of an accusation than a question.

The First Doctor was still smiling. "Hmm? Oh, I'm so sorry, I suddenly realized what the old proverb meant. 'To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose. 'Twas all part of Rassilon's trap to find out who wanted immortality and put him out of the way. He knew very well that immortality was a curse, not a blessing."

* * *

><p>"I said move," John said, still pointing the gun at Rainsford.<p>

Rainsford cast a critical eye on him. "Well, I see that I don't have any choice," he said. He started toward the cell, then suddenly turned, a second pistol seeming to materialize in a blur of movement.

Rainsford pointed it **not** at John, but at Harry. "Or maybe I do."


	41. Chapter 41

With Borusa dispatched and Rassilon returned to his eternal sleep, the Fifth Doctor let out a sigh of relief. He would have loved to have taken some time with his previous selves, just to remind himself who he was and why he lived the life he did. But he, and every other Time Lord in the room, knew it was impossible. With Chancellor Flavia on the way, it was imperative that they wrapped things up and got the companions - all of the companions - off the planet as quickly as possible. "Well, now it seems that we must part, just as I was getting to know me."

"So," said the Second Doctor, coughing as if to break the tension. "You're the latest model."

"Yes, and the most agreeable," answered his Fifth self with pride.

"Certainly the most impudent," retorted the Second Doctor with a smile.

"I see our dress sense hasn't improved, has it," the Third Doctor said, eying the Fifth. He would never admit it, but seeing this version of himself so young and so self confident stung. Once again he was painfully reminded that his own time was coming to an end.

As if to remind him that he couldn't stay and reminisce, the companions walked over and joined them, standing around and smiling.

"Neither our manners," rebuffed the First Doctor. He looked at the pregnant human, wondering at how that might have happened. Of all of his incarnations, he may have looked the oldest, but he was in fact the youngest and closest to his rebellious youth, and he'd been secretly thrilled when Borusa had called him a renegade. When he'd left Gallifrey in a "borrowed" TARDIS he'd sworn to himself that he would never conform to what they expected of him - even when he "grew up". He didn't know which one of his future selves had been involved with the young woman, but he heartily approved of how it had turned out.

"Well, goodbye my boy," he said, extending his hand to his Fifth self. "You did quite well, quite well. It's reassuring to know that my future is in safe hands," he laughed.

The Fifth Doctor laughed back, mocking him, then put his hands behind his back and sighed with exasperation.

"Come along Susan," said the old gentleman to his granddaughter.

"Goodbye everyone," said Susan as she turned to leave, the Doctors smiling and saying goodbye to her. "Grandfather," she said as they approached the TARDIS, "did you sense -"

"I certainly did," the Doctor said. "Isn't it marvelous?"

The Second Doctor had also sensed the new addition and knew they had to call it a day. He wondered at who might have been so irresponsible to have let something like that happen. Certainly not his incarnation! "Time to go, Brigadier," he said, walking over to his most recent self. "Goodbye," he said, holding his arms out in friendship.

"Goodbye," said the Fifth Doctor, shaking both of his hands.

His Second self then turned and faced his Third. "Goodbye," he said shaking hands. Then he realized that it was this incarnation who'd brought the girl here. What in Rassilon's name had been going on in his TARDIS since he'd gone? He turned and scowled. "Fancypants," he called over his shoulder.

"Scarecrow," replied the Third, frowning in return.

The Brig turned to him as he dashed towards the TARDIS. "Doctor, don't you want your coat?"

"Bring it along, would you Brigadier," he said as he headed into the TARDIS. No time to argue now.

"Certainly," the Brigadier sighed, picking it up. He turned and looked at the two remaining Doctors. "Well, goodbye, Doctor."

The Fifth Doctor smiled. He hadn't seen much of the Lethbridge Stewart in this incarnation, and in a way he was a bit jealous of his predecessors. "Brigadier," he said.

"Doctors." For his part, the Brig looked as though, despite his complaining, there was a secret smile in his eyes, as though he had enjoyed a return to the chaos that always followed a visit with the Doctor.

The Third Doctor smiled at seeing Lethbridge-Stewart older; though he knew he'd forget, for now it was nice to know that in spite of the trouble he inevitably attracted, the Brigadier seemed to be faring well and had managed to survive quite nicely. "Brigadier."

The Brig stopped for a moment, as if he were going to say something, then changed his mind. "Splendid fellows," he finally said, "All of you." Then he turned and disappeared into the TARDIS.

Sarah had been standing back a bit, watching all four Doctors closely. She thought that she rather liked the first one. He seemed a bit crotchety, but still she could tell that he wasn't, not really, and she thought that they would have gotten along pretty well given the chance. The second Doctor seemed nervous and rather silly to her, but still, she thought, he did have a certain affable charm about him.

Then she focused all her attention on his fifth self. He was younger looking than her two Doctors, rather attractive and, she recognized almost immediately, in his own way, quite sure of himself. She knew what he was thinking. He was the newest Doctor and that made him top dog with his other selves. She smiled warmly at him. Yes, she liked this one.

She felt a twinge of sadness to think that she may never see the Fourth Doctor again. He was the one she would always love the most. She felt closer to him than all the rest of him put together. She sighed, knowing that she'd have to leave soon and her time with the Doctors would be over. Though she couldn't wait to get back to John, she knew now that all this would soon all be in the past. 'The end of an era, as they say,' she thought to herself.

Sarah wandered over to the third Doctor as he was saying goodbye to his Fifth self and shaking his hand.

"Well, goodbye, old chap. I must say I've had the time of my lives." He put an arm around Sarah Jane almost possessively. "Haven't we, Sarah Jane?"

"Have we," she answered him. "Well I only have one life, and I think I've had too much already." Sarah turned and looked long and hard into the blonde Doctor's eyes. She held her hand out to him. "Goodbye," she said hesitating, hoping he would say something to her that would make things right somehow. "It was really nice meeting you."

The Fifth Doctor paused for a moment; just seeing her again had been emotional enough. Sensing their baby from across the chamber had grabbed both of his hearts. Now, holding her hand, he felt the link to their child, the strength of it and the enormity of what they had been to each other nearly brought him to his knees.

Realizing that his successor was tongue-tied, the Third Doctor jumped in. "Thank you, Sarah Jane. It was nice meeting you too."

Sarah looked back at the Third Doctor, still holding the Fifth's hand. "Hmm?" She was hurt and confused. Something had just happened, she could sense it. She saw the Doctor's eyes burn into hers and she could tell there was a lump in his throat. Suddenly she realized he knew about the baby.

The hair on the Third Doctor's neck stood up. Flavia and her guards were close by, he could feel it. There was no more time for niceties. "I'll explain later." Putting a hand on the back of Sarah's neck, he steered her, perhaps a little too forcibly, back towards the waiting TARDIS.

As he lead Sarah Jane off by the neck, she stared back at the fifth Doctor. She wanted to pull away, to run back to him and beg him to talk to her, to answer for everything and make sense of it.

But she knew she couldn't. In the end, all she could do was wave goodbye to Tegan and Turlough.

The Fifth Doctor watched her go, knowing it had to be this way, but wishing it didn't. How could he have let things go so far? And once he had, how could he possibly have abandoned her? He didn't know which horrified him more. "I am definitely not the man I was. Thank goodness."

Tegan watched all of the other Doctors and companions piling into the TARDIS. "Are we all going home together?"

The Doctor smiled, knowing what would happen next. "Watch."

* * *

><p>Rainsford paused a moment as he pointed the small but deadly pistol at Harry's chest, letting everyone take in what had just happened. "Now Doctor," he said to John, "your disregard for your own safety has been well documented, as so has your one weakness. You'll do anything to protect your friends."<p>

John hesitated. "I keep telling you, I'm **not** the Doctor," he said, just the tiniest bit unsure of himself.

"I suppose that," Rainsford said, "is a conversation we can have later. Now put down the gun."

John didn't waver, but Harry wasn't sure if his resolve would weaken. "Don't let him stop you, John," he said. "I knew this could happen and I'm not afraid. Shoot him if you have to, but stop him at all costs."

"I'm not going to let him hurt you because of me, Harry," John said, no longer unsure. He looked Rainsford in the eyes. "You don't scare me anymore," he said. "No matter what you do to me, you can't hurt me." He started to lower the gun.

"Don't do it, John," Jack said. "Listen to what you're saying. You're talking about going back to being tortured."

"I know what I'm saying, Jack," John said, swallowing hard. "I'm saying that I'm not going to let something happen to you and Harry, no matter what." He set the gun on the floor.

Before Rainsford could even turn to take John, Harry leapt at him. But Rainsford wasn't going to let that happen, and a shot rang out before John or Harry could react.

But Jack had seen it coming, and had dove in front of Harry, the bullet hitting him full in the chest. A moment later he was on the ground, the growing red stain saturating his chest, but John almost couldn't take it in, as Harry changed direction and leapt on the discarded gun, turning and shooting Rainsford in the continuation of one smooth movement.

Rainsford hadn't even hit the ground when Harry was at Jack's side, tearing open his shirt and trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hey buddy, are you and John OK," he asked as the familiar feeling of dying began to spread throughout his body.

John knelt down beside him, watching helplessly as Harry worked to save him, knowing it was futile. "Jack, I'm sorry," he said, tears flowing.

"Harry's the one that should say he's sorry," he smiled weakly. "He tried to steal my chance to be the big hero. Harry," he said as he looked over at him, "take care of John for me and get him out of here. Don't wait, get going now before you get caught again. I'd hate to have gone through this for nothing." He looked at John again. "When you get Sarah Jane back, give her a hug for me, OK." His eyes closed.

"Jack, I..."

Harry put a hand on John's shoulder. "John, I'm sorry." He shook his head. "He can't hear you. He's gone."

John stopped for a moment. "No, Jack, you can't..." He looked at Harry pleadingly. "Jack he... he took care of me, he made sure that … Harry, you have to do something."

"You're right, I have to honor his last wishes. Listen to me," he said, turning John to face him with bloody hands. "Jack was a good man, and nothing and no-one is ever going to hurt him again. But right now, we've got the world to save, so come on old boy." He lifted John to his feet, picked up the gun and with a quick salute to Jack, pulled John towards the exit.


	42. Chapter 42

Once she was inside Sarah Jane looked about the TARDIS in shock. She turned to the Third Doctor. "This is the old, uhm, I mean this is your TARDIS. How is that possible?"

The Doctor looked up from the console. "Oh, part of Rassilon setting things right, I imagine. He's scooped our various TARDISes into our individual timestreams so he has something to send us home in. I suppose it beats being dropped onto the pavement somewhere," he smiled. He didn't mention her hint of changes in the TARDIS as well; more reminders of what he didn't want to think about.

Sarah nodded, walked around the console and brushing her finger playfully on it. She smiled at him. "OK Doctor, you're always saying that you'll explain things later. Well I'd say it's later now, so will you kindly start your explanations?"

He looked playfully back at her, as though he were going to try and avoid things again, but he decided better of it. They had better ways to spend what little time they had left. "Alright, I've already explained quite a bit about how I feel and what happened between us and all, what else do you want to know?"

"For starters, why did you pull me away so quickly? I wanted to stay and talk to your Fifth self. He at least could answer for your Fourth self, and believe me, there was a lot I wanted to ask that version of you."

"I'm sure there was," the Doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'm afraid that Rassilon's tomb was about to be overrun with Time Lords. Believe me, no matter how grateful Chancellor Flavia might have been, I can't imagine that she and her guards would have taken the idea of … our … 'progeny' lightly," he said.

"How would they have known," she said with concern.

"Time Lords can sense each other," he said uncomfortably. "That's how I could tell. It's likely every Time Lord in that room knew about it, I'm afraid."

She reached her hand out to him. "That means that the Time Lord you called the Master knows about our son too." She squeezed his arm. "Doctor, if he's as dangerous as you say he is. He could hurt the baby, or worse, try to kill him. I don't care what it takes. You've got to stop him somehow."

The Doctor put an arm around her. "It's all right," he said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Chances are he won't remember a thing. The last thing Rassilon wants is for the Master to know it's possible to have a Time Lord baby. After all, Rassilon's the one who set up the whole loom system in the first place. I guarantee you that when the Master wakes up wherever Rassilon dropped him, he won't remember a thing. And neither, I'm afraid, will any of my selves."

Sarah looked deeply into his eyes. "Do you mean to say that you'll forget about this time with me, and so will your Fifth self?"

"I'm afraid so," he said. "Standard procedure in those rare occasions when a Time Lord crosses his own timeline so blatantly. Prevents paradoxes. After all, we wouldn't have had to go through all that if I'd remembered the solution the first two times I'd experienced it, but if we hadn't gone through it, we wouldn't have found the solution in the first place. Understand?"

"Not exactly, but I think I get the gist of what you're saying." She put her head on his shoulder. "Will I forget it all too," she asked sadly.

"I shouldn't think so," he said. "You aren't in danger of crossing your own timeline. Even for a Time Lord it's a rarity, because of the dangers and problems it causes. It's strictly forbidden, and for good reason." He smiled and tweaked her nose. "But you will probably remember everything about it. Just don't tell me about it when you see me again."

Sarah Jane smiled then ran her hand along his cheek. "Promise you'll never really forget me."

"How could I ever forget you, Sarah Jane?" he asked, putting his own hand on her cheek. "I don't have to know about our baby to know that you mean more to me than anyone else I've ever traveled with. I will always love you, no matter what."

Sarah beamed at him. "I'll always love you too, Doctor. I promise, I'll never forget you as long as I live."

The TARDIS landed with a thud. "You're back," the Doctor said, just a little sadly.

"It would seem so. Can I ask you one last question before I go?"

"If you like," he said.

"The baby," she said as she took his hand and touched her stomach with it. "What do you want me to tell him about you when he's old enough to understand?"

The Doctor was taken aback by her question, and stunned by the strength of his connection with the baby. He concentrated for a moment. "I don't know how much he'll remember, but I've just told him that I love him and I want him to be happy, and I want him to be safe. Tell him … tell him that I love him and I wish I could be with him, but I can't."

"What about his heritage? He'll be a Time Lord you know, how can I teach him about that?"

The Doctor thought about the Time Lords, and all that they represented - especially all of the subterfuge surrounding this birth, and the deviousness and deceit behind this sham of convincing Time Lords that only those who were "suitable" could reproduce. "Maybe," he finally said, "it's better that you don't."

Sarah saw the look that came over his face while he was thinking of what to tell her and she decided he was right, especially after all he had told her about the Gallifreyans when they were traveling together. "I agree. Well, I suppose this is goodbye for now," she said, trying to keep smiling.

He smiled at her and held out his arms.

Sarah leapt into them knowing that this was probably the last time she would see this version of the Doctor. She hugged him as fiercely as she could, wishing that things could be different between them and knowing that they couldn't. She knew that she had chosen John and didn't regret it, but if only the Doctor would at least stay in touch. "I don't know what to say," she shrugged.

"Unfortunately, neither do I. I'm rubbish at goodbyes. So you'd better get going so I can get back to your past you before you wonder what's happened to me and go off and do something foolish," he smiled at her.

She laughed back. "Right now I could be waiting for you and thinking that you're up to something without me." She gave him one last hug. "Be nice to me when you get back will you? I get really insecure sometimes about you, you know."

"I'm afraid that by the time I get back to you I won't remember any of this, but I promise to try. Now scoot," he said.

She headed towards the door but turned back for just a moment. "Since you won't remember this after I'm gone, I just want you to know that I think you're wonderful and I'll always be grateful to you for all the time we've spent together." She waved at him. "Bye Doctor, take good care of yourself and me."

Then she was gone.

The Doctor watched her go. Perhaps it was good that this incarnation wasn't too much longer for this world. At least he wouldn't have to go through the pain of losing her. He didn't know how he could possibly stand that.

He waited another moment, remembering how it had felt to connect with his son, then set the controls for his present.

* * *

><p>"Come on, they're bound to be here any moment," Harry hissed, dragging John down the hall even as he stared back at Jack's lifeless body.<p>

John forced himself to look away, to look forward. He took two steps and on the third, he felt Harry's hand slip away and slammed into … his couch.


	43. Chapter 43

John looked around and realized that suddenly he was back in his house on Hillview Road. Rubbing his shin, he realized that this wasn't the house as it had been when it was Lavinia's safehouse. This was home, with Sarah's latest set of notes spread out over the kitchen table, and a smattering of parts and circuits he had been playing with on the coffee table. He looked down and he was once again wearing the jeans and sweater he'd had on when he'd lain down for a nap on the couch, seemingly weeks ago.

He spun around, trying to find Sarah Jane, then remembered that she'd been going out when all of this happened. He threw open the door to run down to the bus stop, and there she was, running up the front steps towards him.

Sarah bounced up the stairs and threw her arms around him. She kissed him over and over again, gasping in between kisses. "Oh John, the most amazing thing happened. I have so much to tell you about. You won't believe the day I've had." She kissed him again and started to laugh with joy.

John held her like he'd never let her go and kissed her just as feverishly. "The day you've had!" he said. Then he pulled away from her. "Oh my - Jack!"

"Jack, what a odd time to mention him. What about Jack?"

His face darkened. "He's dead," John said.

Sarah Jane stopped smiling and looked at him in shock. "Dead, how, who, are you sure? What happened?"

"It was Torchwood," he said, still a bit stunned. "He was protecting Harry, and they killed him."

"Let's get in the house, we've got to call the Brigadier at once. He'll make sure this is handled properly. Oh, poor John and poor Jack," she exclaimed. "Is Harry alright?"

"Yes, he was..." He looked around, trying to get oriented. "I mean, Jack was right..."

"Right where?" asked Jack as he bounded up the back steps and into the house, smiling. "Oh, don't mind me, just kiss your wife, I can wait for an answer," he laughed as he sat down on arm of the couch.

John stared at him as though... well, as though he'd seen a ghost. Finally he snapped out of it. "Jack, you're all right!" Saying a quick "one moment" to Sarah, he gave Jack a huge hug, then went back to Sarah and hugged her again too. "He was dead," John said. He turned to Jack. "You were dead, I saw it!" Then he paled again. "Harry! Is Harry all right?"

"I haven't seen him, but I would bet anything he is." He smiled over at a very confused Sarah Jane. "Hello pretty lady. How was your day?"

"Well, as a matter of fact it was extremely unusual thank you, but what on earth happened to you three boys while I was gone? And what did you mean telling me that Jack was dead, John? That's impossible, he's right here grinning at us like a Cheshire cat."

John's mind was whirling. "It must be because... because now that you're back everything's gone back to normal and it never happened. Which means that Lavinia must be all right too … right?" He looked at Jack hopefully.

Jack hesitated. "I don't know, John, I don't think it was very long after I got shot that everything went back to normal. We should probably give her a call."

"Aunt Lavinia, what's she got to do with all this? Someone owes me a lot of explaining," Sarah said as she sat down on the couch, folded her arms and waited for answers.

John seemed agitated. "When I turned on the beacon the world suddenly flipped and the Doctor didn't exist and you didn't exist and the Brig didn't exist and Torchwood was in charge of everything and Aunt Lavinia was running a resistance organization and she killed Horace Dewhurst, who's in charge of them, but then she couldn't get away and Torchwood killed her. If everything's gone right back to the way it was she'll be alright, but I don't know," he said, pacing back and forth. He took Sarah's hands hands. "Please, let's just call her and be certain."

Sarah turned to look at Jack. "Jack just waltzed in here practically singing and you told me just a few minutes ago that you were quite certain that he was dead." She took his hand and motioned for him to sit next to her. He did and she ran her hand over his head in concern. "John, I'm worried about you."

"Actually, SJ," Jack said, "everything he said is true. Everything just kind of snapped back to normal just now. I guess maybe if it just happened I wasn't quite dead yet."

"You see?" John said, "I'm not going mad. We need to call her."

"Alright then we'll call her right now, but remember, she's very difficult to reach sometimes." Sarah went over to the phone and started dialing. "Last time we spoke to her she was in the Colombian jungle, but she may have moved on by now." Sarah waited as the phone rang. After a few minutes of questioning she hung up the phone. "We won't be able to reach her for at least a week. However I may get a call back sooner than that because her contact at the outpost said that he'd ask around to find out when she was last heard from."

John looked crestfallen. He put his arms around Sarah and held her as though he were certain Lavinia was gone. Then he suddenly brightened. "Wait a minute, Dewhurst. It's both or neither, if he's alive, then she must be too. We just need to find out."

"I'm on it," Jack said, pulling out his mobile and pressing three keys. "Hi, Marcie," he said, "how's old Horace's schedule looking for next week?"

Sarah Jane stiffened as she listened to Jack's side of the conversation. What kind of phone was he using, and why did he seem to have a direct line to Torchwood? Warning signals started going off in her head. She had to find a way to protect John from him at all costs. She decided to use the fact that she was exhausted to excuse herself as soon as Jack ended the call. Then she would go upstairs to her bedroom and call the Brigadier from the phone on her nightstand. Alistair would sort this all out quickly enough.

John saw the look on her face and knew what was going through her head. He pulled her aside so their voices wouldn't be picked up by the phone. "It's all right," he whispered. "Jack's one of us."

"One of us," she spat. "More like one of them. I don't like this at all John, why is he in such close contact with Torchwood? Do you have any idea of how sinister that lot is? I'm telling you we can't trust Jack."

"No, you're wrong," John said. "I know this looks bad, but -"

"OK," Jack interrupted. "Good news. Well, sort of good news, anyway. Dewhurst is still alive and well, which means that Lavinia must be as well." He breathed a sigh of relief.

Sarah Jane was in protective mode. She was not about to let anyone endanger John or their child. "Why don't we just let the Brigadier decide that for us," she said as she headed for the phone.

"Sarah, I'm telling you, Jack's a hero," John said. "He saved Harry's life."

"He's right, old girl," Harry said, not bothering to knock as he came in. "As soon as I realized everything was back to normal, I came straight over to make sure you were all right." He walked over and shook Jack's hand. "I can't tell you how hard I was hoping to see you standing here."

Jack shook Harry's hand then playfully punched him in the shoulder. "It's good to see you looking so well too, fella."

"Thanks to you," Harry said. He turned to Sarah Jane. "You should have seen it, it was just like in the theater, he just jumped right in front of me. I'd have been stone cold dead if it weren't for Jack. Well, I suppose I wouldn't now that everything's back to normal, but we didn't know that then, did we. And John was a hero as well!" He took Sarah's hands. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you alright?"

Sarah had been watching the three men closely. It was obvious that they had formed an even closer bond while she was gone. Maybe she was being a bit too hasty. "Right then, let's all head into the kitchen. I'll put on a pot and the three of you can tell me the entire story over tea and biscuits." She didn't wait for an answer, she walked into the kitchen and started the tea.

"Well, you see," John started as he headed for his chair at the table, "I woke up from my nap, but instead of being here I was under a bridge, and …"

An hour later, both sides had told their stories, Harry had checked out John's heart, and everyone's adrenaline was beginning to flag. Harry was the first one to notice, and stood up. "All right then, I think, Jack, it's time we left these two lovebirds to get some rest."

Sarah looked over at John. He seemed alright but he did look exhausted. "I think Harry's right dear, we could both use a bit of a kip."

John nodded. "I could sleep for a week."

"And as your doctor, I heartily recommend it," Harry said. "You should be all right, but if you have any pain, you call an ambulance right away. I will be off taking Captain Harkness here out for a very large celebratory drink."

"Right, and the second round's on me, buddy."

"But Jack doesn't drink," John said.

"Then he can watch me drink," Harry said, "but there are a few things I'd like to talk to him about."

"Oh, we definitely need to have a conversation, and I might make an exception as to the drinking," Jack said. He put his arm around Harry. "Let's make like a tree and leave 'old thing'."

Harry rolled his eyes and politely removed Jack's arm. "Absolutely. Goodnight, Mister and Mrs. Tinker."

"Goodnight you two," Sarah laughed, shaking her head at them.

"Good night both of you," John said, smiling and taking Sarah Jane's hand.

Harry and Jack headed for the door. As the door closed, John was sure he heard Harry say, "I do hope you're not one of those sloppy weepy drunks..."

John turned to Sarah Jane and smiled. "Can I escort you up to bed, Mrs. Tinker?"

"That would be lovely Mr. Tinker," Sarah said as she took his arm.

John led her up the stairs towards their bedroom. "So you said that you saw the Doctor and you talked to him." He looked straight ahead at the stairs. "Did you … settle anything?"

Sarah smiled. "As a matter of fact we did. Not as much as I would have liked to, but I did get some closure."

They reached the top of the steps, and he turned to face her. "So you're … staying here?" He bit his lower lip as he waited for an answer.

Sarah gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "I told you before, I love you. Besides that, I chose you so you're stuck with me."

"But you were so desperate to hear from him..."

"And I did. I talked to him, and he told me he loved me and the baby. I didn't find out why he never came back for me, but it doesn't matter anymore because that part of my life is over. You're my life now, you and our son."

John smiled, then hugged her as if he would never let go. "I love you, Mrs. Tinker, and I love my life."

Sarah returned his hug and kissed him joyfully. "I love our life too. Now let's go to bed before we both collapse right here in the hallway."


	44. Chapter 44

**March 28, 1978**  
><strong>South Croyden, UK<strong>

"I'll get him," John told Sarah, heading up the stairs. The baby had barely started to cry, but John was at the door, cradling him in his arms, not even minding the newborn's wet diaper that had caused the stir.

"I see you're awake, my boy," he said quietly, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. He'd been given to doing that ever since Sarah had finally given birth, after eighteen months of pregnancy. He took him over to the changing table and easily removed the wet nappy, cleaning the baby up with ease. He'd quickly mastered that part.

Getting the clean one on... that was another story. He looked at the nappy he'd just removed and tried to arrange the new one in the way he thought it might go, but he just couldn't make it work. "I'm sorry, my son, but your father just doesn't seem to be any good at this."

Sarah Jane, who had been hiding behind the door watching, started to giggle.

John turned, and with a humbled smile, said, "Fine, **you **do it."

"I will, gladly my dear. I shouldn't get too discouraged though if I were you. It just takes a bit of practice. You watch me and you'll get the knack of it soon enough." She kissed his cheek as she brushed by him. "Here, you get out two nappies because he's a boy. Place one on the top while you put the other one under him. Next, you just open the taped sides one at a time and fit each one over the ends like this, and voila."

"How did you get to be an expert all of a sudden?" he asked, holding her from behind even as she cradled the now soothed baby in her arms.

"Mother's instincts," she smiled at him. "They issue them to you when you're at the hospital. They go with the eyes they install in the back of your head. All mum's have em."

He looked skeptically at her. "You," he said, "are supposed to be sitting down and taking it easy."

"I may not be sitting down, but I am taking it easy. Isn't that right my precious little peanut?"

The baby smiled and gurgled at her.

"You see, our son agrees with me. Now let's get the guest of honor downstairs so everyone can fuss over and coo at him."

"May I?" John asked, holding out his arms.

"Of course, after all you deserve the role of proud papa, especially today." Sarah gently handed the baby to him.

John smiled and gently headed downstairs, feeling the warmth and love of carrying their son. He'd taken every opportunity he could to hold him since Sarah had given birth; he couldn't get enough.

Every head at the party turned as they heard them coming down the stairs.

"Oh, there he is, that's our dear little boy," said Lavinia.

"I say," said Harry, "just look at the little chap."

"Well done you two, good job," smiled the Brigadier.

"Everyone, John and I would like to thank you all for being here to share our happiness. This is our son, Luke John Tinker."

"Oh," said Benton. "I'd know that young man anywhere, he looks exactly like you," he said to John.

John smiled. It was something he and Sarah Jane had talked about. Luke looked like a newborn - that is to say, he looked like whomever you expected him to look like. Still, there did seem to be a convenient resemblance. "Do you think so?" he asked. "I think he looks a lot more like me now than he did two days ago, when he looked like a raisin."

"I think that handsome little guy is going to be a real heartbreaker when he gets a bit older," Jack said. "Especially if he has his Uncle Jack around to teach him. Isn't that right, you handsome boy you?"

"I think Uncle Jack is going to have to reign it in a little," John laughed. "I think this family can do with a few sedate years, don't you?"

"Yes, if Jack has his way, Luke will be a lothario by the time he's seven," laughed Sarah.

"Oh come on SJ, I was going to wait until he was at least eight," Jack countered.

Sarah gave him a challenging glance. "SJ is it? You've been calling me that for a while now, and I'm not sure I like it."

As if on cue, Harry walked up to them and put his hand on Sarah Jane's shoulder. "I say old thing, you should be sitting down. Oh, and have you got any more of those cakes with the chocolate sprinkles on them?"

Sarah was about to let Harry have it when Lavinia beat her to it.

She came up from behind and Harry didn't see her approaching. She slapped a hand on his shoulder soundly. "Come along, old boot, and I'll find some for you."

Harry swallowed hard. "Yes ma'am. Thank you very much," he said as he let her lead him away.

Sarah was smiling again as she watched them go. "On second thought, Jack, I suppose there are worse things than being called SJ."

Sarah Jane had been walking around for a few minutes with her newborn son in her arms greeting their friends, and the guest of honor had just fallen asleep when she looked over at her husband John. He was grinning from ear to ear proudly and shaking everyone's hand. They had a lot to be grateful for and she knew she would never take that for granted. John turned and caught her eye, his expression one of pure adoration. Sarah winked at him and headed over to where he and Harry had been talking to the Brigadier. When she reached his side, she leaned over and kissed John's cheek.

The Brig caught sight of her walking and furrowed his brow. "Do sit down, Sarah Jane," he bellowed, "you know you have a condition!"

Luke startled awake and began to cry loudly. "There, there my little love," cooed Sarah softly. "Did the big bad Brigadier frighten my precious lamb?" She looked over at the Brig and gave him a look that clearly said, 'see what you you've done now?' "Alright, I'll go quietly, but Luke won't. If I can't get him back to sleep, Godpapa, Brigadier or not, you're on nappy duty for the rest of the party."

"I think I would be happy to be on nappy duty, and one day I'll actually figure out how to do it," John said, swooping in behind her. He nodded gratefully to the Brigadier as he sat her down on the couch. "It's good to have someone else be the invalid for a change." Once she was sitting, he gently lifted the baby out of her arms and cooed at him, staring into his eyes as if there was nobody else there. The baby stopped crying almost immediately, smiling up at him and gurgling, trying to grab his nose. "That's it, Daddy's here, there's nothing to worry about," he said, rocking Luke gently in his arms, thinking that at any moment, he might explode with joy.

Sarah Jane leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm the luckiest woman in the universe. I have two handsome men to look after and I adore both of them."

"And we adore you, don't we, Luke?" He changed to his "baby" voice, saying, "Yes, Daddy, Mummy is the bestest Mummy ever." Then John leaned over and kissed her, content.

* * *

><p>The day after the party, Jack had perhaps the most important job of all: to deliver Luke's medical records to Torchwood.<p>

They weren't the real records, of course; they were a carefully crafted fake designed to convince Torchwood that Luke was John's son, and human, at least for the time being. Creating them had been an elaborate production, to which UNIT had devoted the best of its staff. Now they'd find out just how good of a fake it was - and how well Jack could snow Horace Dewhurst.

He also had a lot to live up to; specifically, Sarah Jane's expectations. John and Harry had been convinced of his sincerity by the time the universe had righted itself; Sarah Jane hadn't been so easily convinced, no matter how she'd appeared while everyone had caught up on what had happened.

All those months ago, when Jack had returned from drinks with Harry (via cab - both of them had been too smashed to drive) he'd found Sarah Jane sitting on his doorstep, waiting. "I thought you'd be at home in bed with your husband, the lucky devil," he'd slurred.

"My husband is resting soundly at the moment. I'm here because we need to talk. You didn't really think that I would just let the fact that you're working for Torchwood go did you?"

"I'd be disappointed in you if you did," he said. "But we really should go inside to talk about this." He opened the door and motioned her inside.

Sarah walked cautiously into the house. It wasn't that she didn't trust John or Harry, it was just that she wasn't as naive as they could be. Her reporter's instincts told her that there was much more to this than what she had been told. She turned to Jack as he came in behind her. "Well?"

Jack plopped down on his couch as though there were nothing unusual going on. "It wasn't my choice to work for Torchwood, but now that I'm there, staying is the best thing I can do for you and John."

Sarah wasn't buying his story. She wasn't going to rest until Jack could prove to her that he could be trusted. "Sorry Jack, you'll have to do better than that. For all I know the whole event over Harry getting shot at could have been staged. You could have been in on it as part of the set up. The blood on your shirt could have been fake."

"Could have been," Jack said. "So could the whole thing about rescuing him from Torchwood. The whole thing could have been cooked up to get into your confidence." He waited for her reaction.

"So, is that an admission?"

"No, it's a statement. It could have all been manufactured, but it wasn't." Jack got up and went into the kitchen, then poured himself a large glass of water and downed it all. "Most people don't realize that the main cause of hangovers is dehydration."

"Is there anything you could tell me that might convince me you're being honest, Jack?"

Jack thought about that for a moment. "That depends. Was your room on the TARDIS pink and white, and right next to the Doctor's?"

Sarah lost her composure for a moment. Jack had actually managed to surprise her. Then she realized that Torchwood could have gotten that information somehow. After all they were after the Doctor. "What's a TARDIS?"

Jack looked askance at her. "Seriously? That's your plan?"

"Pardon?" She shot him a look of confusion.

Jack sighed. "The TARDIS," Jack said, as though he were talking to a very small child, "is the craft that the Doctor travels around the universe in. Looks like a Police Box, supposed to blend in, but never does... starting to sound familiar? SJ, we've already established that you traveled with him, what kind of an idiot do you think I am? Besides, I'm trying to tell you that I did too." He plopped back down on the couch.

"Are you saying that you were one of his companions," Sarah said in disbelief.

Jack nodded.

"Which one?"

"Nine," he said. "Long after you, but I'm guessing that was your room, right?"

"What makes you think that?"

Jack leaned back on the couch. "Because every once in a while, when the Doctor was feeling particularly down, he would disappear into this pink and white room next to his and stay there for about 20 minutes, then come out looking... Oh, I don't know, wistful. One day Rose went in there to see what the big deal was and he ripped her a new one. Said she shouldn't be in there, that it was private, that he didn't want it to smell like Rose, he wanted it to smell like 'her'. He never would tell us who 'she' was, though I think I've got a pretty good guess. After that the two of us just referred to it as 'the shrine.'"

Sarah smiled. "And why do you think the room was mine?"

Jack smiled with her. "Because only a woman who realizes the man she loved still loved her would smile like that," he said. "And I'm guessing the added bonus of tweaking a woman who came after you contributes to that a little too. For the record," he said conspiratorially, "she was insanely jealous of you, even if she never did know your name."

She couldn't help herself. Jack was right but that still didn't prove anything. "Tell me something about the Doctor that only a companion would know."

Jack furrowed his brow. "Aside from you, the TARDIS is quite possibly the only love of his life, no matter how many others try and worm their way in."

"That's good but not enough. What's his favorite drink?"

Jack got a twinkle in his eye. "Ginger beer, when I could get him to drink it, which wasn't often. Otherwise he was pretty boring about it."

"Very good. Right then, what's his favorite flavor of jelly baby and how does he eat them?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Never seen him eat a jelly baby, sorry. Mad for chips, though."

"Hmm, well I suppose he could have changed preferences over regenerations." She thought for a moment. "I've got it, what color hair has he always wanted? I'm sure that's never changed." She was positive she had him now.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Ginger. If I had a shilling for every time I heard him moan about that..."

Sarah eyes lit up. "You really did travel with him didn't you? Oh, and yes, that was my room," she smiled proudly. "Why didn't you tell me about this when I first met you?"

"Well, I wasn't sure how you'd take it. And I didn't want to say anything tonight because John already feels kind of like the odd man out not having been a time traveler. If he knew he was the only one of us who hadn't traveled with the Doctor, it might make him feel worse. He may not like aliens, but he knows so much about the mechanics of it, you can just see him itching to try it."

"I don't agree with that. John isn't really the adventurous type. He'd much rather stay at home puttering around in his workshop than be traveling in space. I'm sure he's fascinated with the idea of it, but actually going to another planet, no. And as you said, he's really not fond of aliens."

Jack shook his head. "No, I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head when the news announced that they were checking people to make sure they weren't aliens. Speaking of which, how's he handling the fact that his baby is going to be one?" He waited for her response, almost challenging her.

Sarah stiffened. "Don't play games with me Jack. I promise you won't like the outcome," she threatened. "Companion or not, I won't let anyone cause danger for those I love."

Jack was unfazed. "I'm not playing games," he said. "I'm offering to help you. Torchwood is going to be watching you like a hawk. We need to coordinate to throw them off the scent and convince them that peanut there is just the normal, human child of normal, human John Tinker."

"Why would you risk your life to help us?"

Jack smiled. "Because if it weren't for the Doctor, my life wouldn't be worth anything. Because clearly he loved you an awful lot, and I owe it to him to protect you. And because it's the right thing to do."

Sarah's eyes searched Jack's. She stared at him for several moments. "I'm trusting you for now. That's not to say that I won't be keeping an eye on you while you're watching me, so you'd better be honest with me."

He held up three fingers. "Scout's honor," he said.

"Alright, but I do have one condition. If you are telling me the truth, you should have no problems with it. You have to let me get UNIT in on this. I will call the Brigadier and tell him about it myself. I doubt if you'd get very far with him. As it is, it'll take some convincing on my part, agreed...?"

And so here Jack was, with a UNIT-produced forgery, striding into Horace Dewhurst's office. "I got it," he said.

"Well Harkness, hand it over. I've been waiting a long time for this." Dewhurst was practically rubbing his hands together and chortling wickedly. Soon he would be able to have the Doctor's son kidnapped and once he had him, he could get anything he wanted. The thought of all that power pleased him to no end.

"You might have to wait a bit longer," Jack said, holding out the manilla envelope. "Just one heart, same as Tinker."

Dewhurst ripped the report out of his hands and opened it. He read it and then slammed it down on his desk. "It's wrong, it has to be. Are you sure you got the right report? This could be a falsified one to throw us off you know."

"Anything's possible," Jack conceded, "but I doubt it. Sullivan's handling it himself, and I got it out of his personal papers. That's not even the official copies." He pointed to the corners, where authenticity seals would normally be. "Seems UNIT's only interested in this because we were so interested in Tinker, but now that they are, they're going to keep things under wraps. They figure we must know something they don't, and until they figure out what it is, they're playing it pretty close to the vest."

"Well, regardless, I want you to keep a close eye on the three of them. The minute you see anything suspicious, let me know, understand?"

"Of course," Jack said. He stood and turned to go, then turned back to Dewhurst. "Oh, and Tinker's been given a clean bill of health and will be going back to work in an on-call capacity in about 8 weeks. I'll make sure to keep tabs on when he goes in and let you know what I can get him to tell me about it."

"Excellent, if you can get him talking this may work out yet. See what you can find out about Lethbridge-Stewart as well. Particularly his plans and any flaws he may have made. We must destroy UNIT and their leader at any cost." He looked back at the report. "There could be a promotion in this for you, Harkness."

"Just trying to make Torchwood the best it can be," Jack smiled. Then he left, blowing a kiss to Marcie on his way out.

Dewhurst ripped up the report on his desk and threw it in the trash. The he pushed his intercom button. "Miss Bentley, connect me with Mr. Whitfield at once."

A moment later one of the phones on his desk rang. "Yes, Director?"

"That upstart Harkness just left my office. I'm not sure he's being honest with me. I want you to assign someone to keep an eye on him at once. Put one of your best men on it and have him report to me once a week."

"Consider it done," Whitfield said.

Dewhurst reluctantly picked up the pieces of torn paper and smoothed them out on his desk. He'd have them analyzed in the morning; perhaps Harkness had missed something, or perhaps UNIT had - if this were even a legitimate report.

Perhaps it would take some time, and perhaps Tinker wasn't even the way he would do it. But somehow, some way, he would find a way to destroy UNIT in general, and Lethbridge-Stewart in particular.

Not even the Doctor would be able to stop him.

* * *

><p><strong>Some time later...<strong>

The Doctor slammed the door of the TARDIS behind him and set the coordinates, tense as a coiled spring until he felt her dematerialize. As this war intensified, he felt himself running more and more.

And from more than just Daleks.

He left the TARDIS to drift in the vortex for a while, slowly heading down the corridors, gently stroking the walls with his fingertips as he went. Passing his own room by, he stopped when he reached the pink and white room next door and went in.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Well, that's it for this story in the arc. Thanks so much for sticking with us, we know it's been a long ride!

In a strange case of life imitating art, yesterday morning saw the birth of our grandson - a ginger, would you believe it? - so we will be taking a couple of weeks off to spend time with family and recuperate, and then we'll be getting back into the swing of things and start posting the next story as soon as possible. If you're not already subscribed to author alerts, please go ahead and do so so that you'll know when the next story starts, or keep an eye on our profile.

Again, thanks for sticking with us, and thanks so much for all the reviews, they really make all the hard work that goes into a massive story arc like this worthwhile!


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